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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24262204">The Call of the Damned</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dalishprince/pseuds/dalishprince'>dalishprince</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood and Torture, Canon Related, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship, Jealousy, Love at First Sight, Near Death Experiences, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character Death(s), Slow Burn, Supernatural Elements</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:53:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>35,280</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24262204</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dalishprince/pseuds/dalishprince</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's two weeks after the peaceful resolution of the maa-alused situation and Nina Maddox is just starting to begin to feel at home with the vampire team of Unit Bravo. That is, until bodies start falling out of the skies with their blood drained. Things like this just don't happen in Wayhaven. But when Nina's traumatic past comes to haunt her, the darkness that has followed her since birth will test her until she breaks. How long until the townspeople realise something is wrong?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Detective/Adam du Mortain, Female Detective/Adam du Mortain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>77</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Lungs Without Breath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               As dawn came, so did the light. The sun was just beginning to rise in the sky, casting shades of pink and orange across the bright blue expanse as Nina pulled into the empty lane by the warehouse. Outside the car, the sounds of birds cawing and the wind sharply rustling the trees filled her ears. Something landed on top of the car, the quiet scratches letting her know it was one of the birds. Reluctantly, she switched off her rusted pink hatchback and yawned. To say she was exhausted would be an understatement. She had never been a morning person and the routine of early morning meetings with Unit Bravo did nothing to change that.</p><p>               It had been two weeks since the maa-alused situation was resolved. She was glad it ended peacefully and that the maa-alused were free to live, undisturbed by humanity, on their own land. They deserved that much after everything that had happened. Still, that was not the only reason she had wanted the resolution to be peaceful. The other reason came in the form of a pale, white-haired man that made Nina’s heart ache in a way she hadn’t felt before.</p><p>               Falk.</p><p>               Sometimes, she swore she could see his reflection in her rear-view mirrors or catch him flitting across her windows out of the corner of her eye when she wasn’t looking. It was her mind playing tricks on her—she knew that. And yet she couldn’t help but hope that against all the odds he was still looking out for her.</p><p>               She needed that.</p><p>               She <em>wanted</em> that.</p><p>               The young detective sighed.</p><p>               Nina lingered longer than she was supposed to in the safe confines of her car, the heat blasting her in the face and enveloping her into a safe hug. A glance at her phone told her it was ten past six.</p><p>               “Shit<em>.</em>”</p><p>               She was late.</p><p>               When she finally got enough courage to open the car door and face the violent icy air outside, her bones rattled in her body. Taking a quick breath, Nina jumped out decisively and shut the door behind her. It took her only a few minutes to run from the chain-link fence surrounding the worn-down warehouse to the front doors. Swiping her Agency ID across the reader, Nina welcomed the warm air with a relieved sigh, falling into the elevator that took her below the facade for respite.</p><p>               It was another ten minutes before the winding corridors and unmarked doors of the Agency warehouse actually began to make some sense. Nina was about to give up, then loud voices emanated from the mahogany door on her left and a relieved sigh escaped her lips. She paused outside the door, trying to catch her breath and wipe her sweaty hands down her loose jeans. Finally, Nina reached for the door handle and pushed.</p><p>               “You are twenty minutes late,” Adam stated as a way of greeting. Tension rippled across every exposed muscle on his body.</p><p>               Nina averted her gaze, her pulse spiking at the sight. “Right, sorry, I still don’t really know my way around.”</p><p>               “I could draw you a map,” Farah offered, grinning.</p><p>               “That would actually help,” Nina said, smiling sheepishly.</p><p>               “Perhaps it would help if you did your job, detective,” Adam responded.</p><p>               Nina wasn’t sure whether he was joking with her or scolding her. She glanced away from the team leader, clearing her throat. A fight was not how she wanted to start the day off.</p><p>               “Why don’t we get started?” Heat prickled on her cheeks as every member of Unit Bravo stared at her and Nina rushed to take her seat in the room, falling into the plush armchair by the window with relief.</p><p>               The rest of Unit Bravo were scattered through the cosy living room Nate had agonised over. Farah was folded into another plush armchair, flicking her legs into the air with boredom. Nina smiled at the sight—out of the whole team, Farah was definitely her closest friend, though she would never let Nate know that.</p><p>               In contrast to the head-bobbing, leg waggling youngest vampire, Morgan sat perched on a cabinet in the darkest corner of the room, flicking her lighter open and closed as she listened to Adam run through the report. Nate was sat beside her, shooting her a knowing smile every so often when Adam would exaggerate or focus too harshly on any member of Unit Bravo.</p><p>               It felt like home. Warmth seeping into her chest as she breathed in the scent of the place she came to love.</p><p>               The sun filtered through the wide windows as it reached its peak in the sky, illuminating the antique furniture in the room. As Adam began setting out their tasks for the week and the Agency report, light danced across his face, highlighting the contours of his face and every strong angle, the taut lines of his neck. It was fortunate enough that Nina could see Adam’s rippling muscles through the tight pale blue t-shirt he wore.</p><p>               The sight made her breath catch in her throat and she hastily looked away from Adam. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Farah snickering to herself.</p><p>               “Is something amusing, Farah?” Adam questioned, turning his undivided attention to the young agent.</p><p>               “Nope!” Farah said, popping the ‘p’ in the word. Then she turned her gleaming eyes on Nina sitting behind Adam. “I just noticed our detective was paying very special attention to this week’s report.”</p><p>               At the vampire’s words, Adam turned around to face Nina. Her skin was suddenly hot, and she could feel her cheeks turning red under the attention. Adam’s eyes softened as he examined the detective, the edges of amusement twisting on his lips. Nina could see the suggestion in the arch of his eyebrow and suddenly forgot everything about the rest of Unit Bravo, the report and Farah’s embarrassing comments.</p><p>               It was just her and Adam.</p><p>               Then, as if realising where they were, Adam shook his head and turned back to Farah, clearing his throat loudly. “Everyone stay focused.”</p><p>               “Yes sir!” Farah saluted the team leader who growled in response.  </p><p>               The rest of the meeting was uneventful. Supernaturals were still being drawn to Wayhaven because of Nina’s blood, but none seemed to be aware why they were being drawn to Wayhaven—they were deemed as non-threatening. It helped to ease some anxiety from the knot in Nina’s stomach that hadn’t left since the fight in the sewers with the Trappers. Still, Unit Bravo would be patrolling every day to ensure no strays were hiding in the shadows. That was a little less comforting.</p><p>               “—and before we finish, there’s another note on the Trappers,” Adam continued, bringing Nina out of her train of thoughts. It seemed as if he was turning his attention specifically to Nina as he said this, his gaze softening monumentally. It made Nina’s breath catch. “The group seem to have retreated outside of Wayhaven but there have been pockets of the them discovered in the surrounding areas outside the town. We must remain vigilant.” Adam paused, his face tightening into hardened resolve. “We cannot allow another incident outside the Warehouse again like last time.”</p><p>               As always, it was hard to tell with Adam, but Nina thought she could see a pang of guilt flash across his eyes. It was gone in a minute, but she still caught the team leader’s gaze and shot him a small, grateful smile.</p><p>               Adam shifted his gaze as if on instinct but not before nodding to acknowledge her gratitude.</p><p>               “Yeah it would suck if Nina got murdered right outside our front door,” Farah commented, eyes gleaming like gems with amusement.</p><p>               “Farah!” Nate chided, shooting Nina an apologetic look. “It won’t happen again, Nina. We’ll ensure it.”</p><p>               Nina forced a smile, trying not to show her fear. “Thanks, but don’t worry, I’m getting used to being threatened before breakfast.”</p><p>               Farah laughed loudly at Nina’s comment. “That’s the spirit!”</p><p>               However, Nate did not seem comforted by the notion. And neither did Adam who turned to the youngest vampire with a cold stare.</p><p>               “This is not a joke,” he stated, voice laced with rage. “And if you cannot take the detective’s safety seriously then I will assign you to research.”</p><p>               At his words, Farah’s eyes widened. “Oh no Adam, anything but that dingy old library! I’ll never make another joke about this again, I swear.”</p><p>               Nate looked offended at her words, whereas Morgan scoffed loudly from her perch in the shadows. “You couldn’t even keep that promise for a day.”</p><p>               Sensing an argument brewing, Nina stepped in before she would be stuck there listening to another fight between the vampires. “Okay, okay,” Nina started, stepping into the middle of all the vampires with her hands up. “Let’s not argue—and while we’re at it maybe lay off talk of my imminent death at the hands of Trappers please.”</p><p>               She shot a pointed look in Farah’s direction, but the other woman just grinned in response.</p><p>               “The detective is right,” Adam said, mouth set in a grim line.</p><p>               Farah snorted derisively. “Big surprise you’d say that.”</p><p>               Adam pointedly ignored her. “The meeting is finished. Let’s all get back to work.”</p><p>               The members of Unit Bravo all began to get up from their respective seats scattered across the living room, chatting amongst themselves about the plans ahead for the day. Nina began to gather up her things as well, glad to have the meeting end at least somewhat amicably.</p><p>               “Oh, Adam,” Nina called out before he left. “Before I forget, could I ask you something?”</p><p>               The team leader stopped at Nina’s question, turning around to face her in the doorway, his broad arms crossed across his chest.</p><p>               “Is something wrong?” he asked, inspecting her hesitantly.</p><p>               Nina shook her head. “No, no, don’t worry. I just, um, I was wondering whether you had some spare time in the next few weeks?”</p><p>               Adam raised a blonde eyebrow. “Why?”</p><p>               “I was wondering if you could give me some training?” Nina asked, her voice quiet. She was unsure how he would react. “Combat training, that is.”</p><p>               “Oh,” was all Adam said.</p><p>               Nina thought she heard a tinge of disappointment in his voice.</p><p>               Then he seemed to remember himself. “Yes, of course, detective. I will set up some sessions for you.”</p><p>               “Thank you, Adam,” Nina said, letting out a breath of relief.</p><p>               She smiled at him—it felt like a weight had lifted off her chest.</p><p>               “Can I ask why you want to get training in combat now?” Adam questioned; his arms still not uncrossed from his chest. He glanced at her uncertainly. “I thought you were keener to stick to research with Nate.”</p><p>               Nina looked away from him, her gaze falling to the floor. “I just—” she took a deep breath. “I would still like to focus mostly on research. This is just… Just in case.”</p><p>               When she looked back up at Adam, he was watching her intently. After a minute’s pause, he finally nodded.</p><p>               “This is the smart decision, detective,” Adam said finally. “Not all missions end peacefully like with the maa-alused.”</p><p>               Nina chuckled cynically at that, fingers almost instinctively reaching to rub on her neck where the scars Murphy left still haunted her. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”</p><p>               “Yes,” Adam said, he appeared almost ashamed of his earlier words as his eyes trailed over Nina’s hand on her neck. “<em>That</em> will never happen again. I won’t allow it.”</p><p>               Shifting her focus from intently watching the cosy yet antique living room, Nina looked up at Adam with a genuine smile. “I know,” she replied, just as earnestly. Without thinking, she had already reached for Adam and wrapped her fingers tentatively around his arm.</p><p>               Adam shivered underneath her touch and Nina saw him swallow hard. Their eyes met across the small space between them and Nina weakened at the softness in his usually icy green eyes. She tried to get closer, parting her lips as if to speak the words unspoken but whatever it was she tried to say, it did not want to leave her lips.</p><p>               Adam took a wide step back.</p><p>               “I look forward to it, detective,” he said, his voice hoarse but definitive.</p><p>               That was the end of the conversation.</p><p>               Adam moved back through the doorway and fixed Nina with an uncertain frown. “In the meantime, stay safe.”</p><p>               As soon as Adam had left, Nina collapsed into the closest armchair, releasing the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding in. The birds chirped outside the open windows, the sun shining brightly down onto her reminding her that the day was still only beginning. The light played on the stained-glass lamps Nate had scattered throughout the living room, making colours dance around the room. Her head spun in the whirlwind of the colours and the aftermath Adam always left in his wake.</p><p>               Nina dug her fingers into the tangles of her hair, tugging at the brown strands. Why did she feel like a marionette with her strings cut every time her and Adam talked? It was as if he were oxygen and when she was without him the air was ripped from her lungs.</p><p>               Nina sighed.</p><p>               On the perch outside the farthest window, a raven tapped its beak against the glass, chirping loudly. At the sight, Nina managed a smile and pushed herself out of the chair.</p><p>               She had work to do.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Revelations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nina trains with Adam. Farah realises some things go much deeper than she thought.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               “Side-step, duck, lunge!” Adam directed, his voice curt and commanding as he moved with her.</p><p>               The woman in front of him stumbled as she attempted to follow his instructions without success, growling in frustration at herself.</p><p>               Adam sighed. “Stop overthinking—that’s why you’re tripping. You have to let your body feel the danger and react.”</p><p>               Nina took a deep breath, steadying herself. “I’m trying,” she said, defeat tinging her voice, “I’m trying.”</p><p>               “Try harder.”</p><p>               Nina nodded, if only to prevent another argument arising again.</p><p>               After all, it was her that asked Adam to train her, not the other way around. She couldn’t be mad at his teaching methods, and yet she did feel discouraged by the harsh words he threw her way every time she would stumble or pause or take a second too long to react. After all, she wasn’t a combat expert like him. In truth, she barely passed the physicals back at the Academy and her captain let her off at the station because of her degree in Forensic Psychology and her talent for deduction.</p><p>               She sighed, trying to train her mind back to the matter at hand as Adam’s jaw revealed the little patience he had was slowly melting away.</p><p>               “I’m ready,” she said breathily.</p><p>               Adam nodded.</p><p>               Without warning, he swung a fist at her face—thankfully at a human speed—which she just about managed to dodge with a yelp, bringing her own fists to her face to protect herself. Nina took a deep breath to steady herself, but she had no time. Adam was on her again in seconds, another fist heading for her head. Another dodge. Uppercut. Her hair stuck to her forehead, obscuring her vision. Adam appeared before her. Nina jumped back so suddenly she almost fell. She stumbled to her feet and Adam took his advantage, a kick connecting with her stomach and sending her spiralling across the hardwood training room floor.</p><p>               An involuntary moan of pain left her lips as she collapsed onto the floor, her stomach and back aching from the impact. As she glanced back at her teacher, she thought she saw a pang of guilt flash across Adam’s face before it was gone again, replaced by his immovable mask.</p><p>               Adam crossed his arms across his broad chest as he approached her. “I think we should go back to sparring with the sandbags.”</p><p>               “No!” Nina sputtered. “I have to learn this. I need to.”</p><p>               Adam raised an eyebrow, tension in his jaw. “Why? We are here to protect you should anything happen. Clearly, this is not your forte.”</p><p>               At his words, Nina winced. She picked herself back up off the floor. Adam kept speaking, but in her head all she could hear was Murphy’s gravelly voice whispering in her ear. She felt the shackles around her wrists and ankles. The cold, hard metal surgery table she was strapped to. She shut her eyes, the ghosts of pain flickering to life inside her—as he beat her, as the needle entered her vein and she watched, helplessly, as his blood slowly dripped towards her.</p><p>               The pain.</p><p>               It had felt like she was being burned alive.</p><p>               Nina shuddered, shaking her head to try and lose the memory. A tear dribbled down her cheek and she tried to catch it before Adam could notice.</p><p>               “I can’t—” she began, her voice wavering, “I have to be able to protect myself. I can’t let <em>that</em> happen again.”</p><p>               Although she hadn’t said specifically what, she could see that Adam knew in an instant what she was talking about. She twisted away from him hastily, swiping her sweaty hands across her cheeks. She took a deep, steadying breath. Behind her, she could almost feel the tension radiating from Adam, but she dared not look back in case she saw the judgement in his eyes. Or worse, she could find pity awaiting her instead.</p><p>               Suddenly, Adam spoke. “I will never let that happen again.”</p><p>               His voice was filled with such intensity that Nina’s breath caught in her throat, longing for him to reach out and care for her in the same way. Quickly, she scolded herself for even thinking that. He would never look at her in that way. She was just another assignment to him—another mission to be fulfilled. At best, he saw her only as the overeager, annoying member of Unit Bravo. The <em>other</em> overeager, annoying member. Adam had made that perfectly clear from the beginning. Whatever she had imagined between them—any longing glances, any sparks—it was all just that.</p><p>               Her imagination.</p><p>               “I can’t rely on you forever,” Nina replied quietly, turning back around to face Adam. When she did, she couldn’t help but look hopefully to the arm Adam extended towards her. But in seconds it was back down by his side, clenched into a tight fist. “I won’t make myself your burden.”</p><p>               Adam met her eyes for the first time that day, his gaze intense, sending shivers down her spine. It was like he had a magnetic hold on her, every inch of her skin erupting in goose bumps.</p><p>               She ached to touch him.</p><p>               “You are not a burden,” Adam said clearly, earnestly. “It would be my pleasure to protect you forever.”</p><p>               Nina’s mouth was dry. Her heart pounded in her chest. It seemed like hours before Adam realised what he had said. His eyes flitted away from hers, his brow furrowing. Disappointment and desire thrust together in her chest, even as Adam looked back at her with those same icy green eyes that couldn’t help but make her heart stutter.</p><p>               “Adam—” she tried to choke the words out of her lungs.</p><p>               Adam’s hand slowly reached from his side, his fingers growing increasingly close to her skin. He brushed them against her cheek gently, catching a stray tear and wiping it away softly. There was the faint ghost of a smile on his pale lips, letting the light reach his eyes. “I –”</p><p>               The doors to the training room crashed open with a loud bang. The tension around Nina and Adam shattered like glass, raining around them and stinging her skin as Adam whipped his hand away from her with lightning speed.</p><p>               Nina gasped for air as the spell Adam had cast over her broke.</p><p>               The team leader turned to face their intruder without sparing her a glance.</p><p>               It was Farah who stood in the doorway, a mischievous smile gracing her full lips. “My, my, am I intruding on something?”</p><p>               Nina didn’t speak, still recovering from the overwhelming moment she had shared with Adam. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she wished she could quiet it—she only hoped Adam wasn’t listening.</p><p>               “No,” Adam said. “I was going to take a break. Perhaps you will have more luck with the Detective.” And with that, Adam strode away from the two women, leaving an icy trail in his path—Nina felt every hit of the cold air.</p><p>               Until, suddenly, Adam paused at the doors and glanced back at Nina hesitantly, his mouth parted into words unspoken. Then Farah grinned brightly at him and a scowl drew itself onto Adam’s lips. He stormed off without another word, the doorframe shaking from the impact of his steps.</p><p>               “So,” Farah said, breaking the heavy silence. She was still grinning, her eyes sparkling dangerously. “Want to tell me what’s going on between you or will you make me guess?”</p><p>               Nina groaned.</p><p>               “C’mon…” Farah trailed off, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. “You know I’m gonna torture it out of you if you don’t! So you have the easy way or the hard way.” Farah grinned. “Choose.”</p><p>               Nina groaned louder, dragging her sweaty hands across her face. Not sure whether her heart was pounding from the exercise or the weighty moment with Adam, she decided to try and push it to the back of her mind.</p><p>               “Ninaaaa,” Farah said in a sing-songy voice.</p><p>               When Nina removed her hands from her face and looked at the vampire, a heavy sigh escaped her lips. “I don’t know.”</p><p>               Farah inspected her with a wary glance. “Well, you should know he cares about you.” Farah paused, almost as if she was unsure she should be telling her this. “A lot.”</p><p>               “What?” The reply choked out of Nina’s mouth.</p><p>               Adam… cared about her? <em>No</em>. She shook her head. <em>Not in that way</em>.</p><p>               “He cares about you,” Farah repeated, appearing uncomfortable. It was an odd look for the usually open vampire. “You should know since he’s hardly making it obvious. And…” She paused again, glancing back at the training room doors as if Adam would appear out of them at any second. “I don’t want to see either of you hurt because of stupid stubbornness.”</p><p>               Nina’s face softened at Farah’s admission. “Thank you, Farah.”</p><p>               Farah shrugged, her signature grin already back on her face. “Ah, you know how it is.” She waved the thanks off with her hand. “Someone on this team needs to keep pushing everyone’s buttons otherwise nothing would happen.”</p><p>               Nina smiled fondly at the shorter woman. “I don’t know how the team ever got on without you.”</p><p>               “Stop it!” Farah exclaimed, wagging a finger in Nina’s face. “You’ll make me blush.”</p><p>               Nina laughed. She opened her mouth to respond when the doors burst open again revealing Adam striding through them. He appeared significantly less enraged than before and tossed Nina a water bottle before she could even acknowledge his presence.</p><p>               “I see your time without me was well spent,” he said, disapproval dripping from his voice as he examined Nina and Farah on the benches, leaning against each other mid-laugh.</p><p>               Nina swallowed hard. Even when he was being ass about it, she couldn’t help but notice the taut lines of his neck and the rigid tension in his jaw. Her hands ached to reach out towards him and massage that tension away—she wanted to tell him that whatever it was plaguing him, it was okay.</p><p>               She was snapped out of her thoughts by Adam’s abrupt, heavy footsteps across the wooden floors. He strode towards the staves at the end of the training room. Nina’s eyes followed him the whole way there.</p><p>               “Oh my God,” came Farah’s whisper of a voice from beside her.</p><p>               Nina had almost forgotten she was there. When she looked back at the vampire beside her there was only pity dancing brightly in her eyes. “You’re in love with him.”</p><p>               The detective didn’t respond. She just took a deep, long breath and turned her attention back to Adam as he continued his tirade about the importance of discipline. There was a shadow of a smile twisting the corners of her lips as she stood up ready for another session.</p><p>               She tried to ignore Farah’s accusatory gaze burning into the back of her head.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i hope you enjoyed! please leave a comment!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Not So Bad</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nina and Morgan go on patrol. Guilt begins to gnaw at Nina's conscience.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p>            “Thanks, Hayley,” Nina called out as she closed the door of Hayley’s Bakery behind her. The ice-cold cup of the iced latte in her hand provided the relief from the badgering sun she’d needed. Another coffee sat beside her latte in the cardboard container. Nina swirled the latte around, letting the vanilla syrup mix in with the coffee before taking a long sip, moaning involuntarily at just how good the coffee tasted. It was often that Verda called her out for being an addict, but her steady defence has always been that there were worse things to be addicted to.</p><p>               The courtyard outside the bakery was busy and bright, making Nina’s heart sing in her chest. She loved when Wayhaven was like this. Spring brought out the best in the townspeople, everyone smiling and chatting—relief from the harsh brutality of winter and the latest murder-spree and disease showing in the careless laughs echoing throughout the street.</p><p>               With a happy sigh, Nina turned back to the bustling, sunny street and almost crashed into someone storming her way.</p><p>               “Took you long enough,” Morgan grunted as a way of greeting, scowling at the brightness of the sun. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”</p><p>               “You’re cheery today,” Nina commented, trying to keep up with Morgan’s long strides as she marched down the street, leading her away from the bustling town centre.</p><p>               Morgan didn’t even look at her, but she smirked. “I don’t feel like babysitting today.”</p><p>               “You know, Farah offered to patrol with me instead…” Nina trailed off, eyeing Morgan with a knowing smile.</p><p>               Morgan scoffed. “You and Farah on a patrol would get nothing done.”</p><p>               “Careful,” Nina warned. “You’re starting to sound like Adam.”</p><p>               The two women turned a corner, away from the sunny streets and onto an alleyway filled with shadows. Morgan visibly relaxed, her shoulders drooping significantly. Nina couldn’t say she wasn’t comforted to see that the vampire seemed to be more at peace here.  </p><p>               “Ugh,” Morgan shuddered. “My worst nightmare.”</p><p>               Nina laughed at her reaction.</p><p>               “Then lighten up a bit! Here, by the way, got you a coffee.” Nina offered Morgan the extra cup of coffee she bought earlier at the bakery.</p><p>               Morgan shot a wary glance at the other woman, but eventually she hesitantly took the cup from her hands and an actual smile of appreciation graced her lips. “Thanks.”</p><p>               “No problem,” Nina replied smiling brightly in return. “Oh!” she exclaimed, suddenly remembering. “And I got these fancy imported cigarettes for you too. Thought you might want a change up.”</p><p>               Now, Morgan’s eyebrows shot up almost to her hair line. “Wow,” she said finally. “Uh, thanks.” She paused, taking the pack of cigarettes and popping them in her pocket. “Really.”</p><p>               “Ah,” Nina waved her thanks off. “I just saw them and thought of you.”</p><p>               Morgan smiled genuinely. “You being here is gonna be… pretty tolerable.”</p><p>               “Thanks.” This time it was Nina’s turn to smile, pushing her glasses further up her nose. “I strive for ‘pretty tolerable’.”</p><p>               The further they marched through the alleyways, the farther they got from the safe areas of Wayhaven to the seedy underbelly. Here, rubbish lined the sides of the street, the stench almost nauseating. Suspicious stains and broken glass littered the gravelled streets, echoes of the misdeeds of those who might wander these streets at night. Absentmindedly, Nina wondered if supernaturals ever creeped through here, searching out her blood. She shivered at the thought.</p><p>               As if on cue, Morgan opened up the new pack of cigarettes Nina had just given her and inclined her head. “Mind if I smoke one?”</p><p>               “No, go ahead.” Nina smiled at the question. “This is overwhelming enough for me. I don’t know how you handle it with those super senses.”</p><p>               “Yeah,” Morgan said, taking in a long draw of the cigarette in her hand. She let out the cloud of smoke almost immediately and a sigh of relief escaped her lips. “It sucks.” She shrugged, taking another draw. “It has its perks though.”</p><p>               “Tell me about it,” Nina muttered, kicking a can down the alleyway as they walked, checking the corners for any lurking supernaturals. “I’d do anything for a dose of that immortality.”</p><p>               Morgan barked a laugh. “Don’t let the Agency hear you say that.”</p><p>               “Yeah I suppose—”</p><p>               “Shut up,” Morgan hissed suddenly. Her whole body tensed up in a way that told Nina there was danger around. The vampire dropped her cigarette almost immediately, snuffing it out with her boot. She glanced around wildly.</p><p>               Nina’s hand flashed to her gun at her belt, her heart beginning to thunder in her ears. She scanned her surroundings, finding the open street far too close to them for comfort—if something attacked now, they would have a hard time covering it up. The sun illuminated their whereabouts better here than in the deeper alleyways and people sped past them just a few feet ahead.</p><p>
  <em>               Shit.</em>
</p><p>               “What is it?” Nina finally asked, feeling her courage waning.</p><p>               Morgan eyed the tops of the buildings on either side of them. “I can smell…”</p><p>               “What?”</p><p>               Morgan looked at her. “Death.”</p><p>               Nina didn’t have time to react to Morgan’s revelation.</p><p>               Something hurtled down towards them from the sky. Morgan tackled Nina out of the way, fast enough that Nina didn’t even know what had happened until it was too late.</p><p>               Her back cracked against the gravel, her palms stinging from the impact. Morgan was already on her feet by the time Nina gained her whereabouts. Her mind flashed to the last thing that happened before she crashed to the ground and her eyes followed the trajectory from the top of the building to the thing that lay sprawled across the spot she had just stood.</p><p>               It was a body.</p><p>               Nina’s breath stuttered to a stop in her throat. She scrambled to her feet, wiping her scraped up hands on her jeans—this couldn’t be real.</p><p><em>               No, no, no</em>.</p><p>               The detective rushed to the person’s side against any of Morgan’s protests. As the body was flopped onto its back, Nina stifled a cry. It was just a girl. No older than fifteen. Bright blue eyes now dead and unseeing. Brown curls tangled and muddy. But the most shocking revelation about the body was not her identity or age.</p><p>               There was a hole in her chest. Flayed and ripped up.</p><p>               Nina stumbled to her feet, almost falling over Morgan in the process.</p><p>               “Hey,” Morgan said, putting her hand on Nina’s shoulder. “Calm down.”</p><p>               Nina nodded. It was all she could do when all she could feel in her throat was her heart choking her.</p><p>               “We need to call this in,” Morgan added.</p><p>               Again, Nina nodded. This time, however, she managed to find her voice. “You contact the Agency and I’ll call the station.”</p><p>               At her words, Morgan raised a questioning eyebrow.</p><p>               “We just found a murder victim,” Nina said quietly, though her own words didn’t sound real to her ears. “We can’t sweep this under the rug like a rogue supernatural. Now call them quickly—before people notice what happened.”</p><p>               There were people still speeding past the entrance to the alley, but it wouldn’t be long until someone looked down and saw the dead, mangled body of this girl. It wouldn’t be long before swarms of townspeople would be looking for answers Nina couldn’t give them.</p><p>               It would be the third murder in Wayhaven within the span of one year.</p><p>               Finally, Morgan nodded slowly. She stepped back to make her call.</p><p>               Nina opened her phone too, dialling the number of the big city station—they couldn’t handle this in Wayhaven. Tina was still at her training in the city and there just weren’t enough officers to handle something this big.</p><p>               She had just pressed the ‘call’ button when something else hurtled through the sky and splattered to the ground right at her feet.</p><p>               “WHPD, what is your emergency?”</p><p>               The voice in her phone sounded far away as Nina dropped her hand to her side.</p><p>               In front of her, there lay a heart.</p><p>               Only, it was entirely white.</p><p>               Completely drained of blood.</p><p>               “What the—” Morgan cut off; her phone pressed to her ear as she stepped closer to Nina to examine the heart. “Well, shit.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p>              </p><p>               The alley was now safely cordoned off from the public, yellow tape lining every inch of the block, city techs and Agency agents milling around the crime scene with little regard for each other. They measured, marked and collected any evidence they could—with no regard for the girl that lay dead at their feet.</p><p>               Nina watched on numbly, wrapping her arms around herself. They had been ordered by Rebecca to wait for the rest of Unit Bravo to arrive before moving forward with anything else.</p><p>               So, they both stood outside the yellow tape, Morgan smoking and Nina staring.</p><p>               Through the crowds of agents and crime scene technicians, the rest of Unit Bravo made their way towards the two women waiting on the side-lines. Nina took a deep, steadying breath and forced a smile as the team approached.</p><p>               Adam was at the front, flanked on either side by Farah and Nate, who both gave the women smiles as they stopped in front of them. Nina returned the gesture, glad to have the rest of the team here to take this pressure off her shoulders. Every single one of her muscles was rigid but she tried to relax them in an attempt to not show just how much this murder affected her.</p><p>               “We need to stop meeting like this,” she said, her smile still shining brightly on her lips. She hoped it didn’t look fake.</p><p>               Farah grinned back, just as brightly. “I’ll take any excuse I can get, Nin!”</p><p>               “Nin?” Nina raised a questioning eyebrow.</p><p>               “Hard to make a nickname out of four letters,” Farah said in explanation, her expression never wavering.</p><p>               “This is serious,” Adam cut in. He was wearing his usual, expensive grey peacoat and his aviator sunglasses were perched on his nose. He turned his head to examine the crime scene before grimacing.</p><p>               Finally, Adam turned his stern expression towards Nina, examining her. “Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt?”</p><p>               Nina shot him a small smile and a nod. “I’m fine. Nothing I haven’t seen before.”</p><p>               Adam nodded, but he didn’t look convinced. Before he could question her any further, Nate cut in, a frown making his gentle features droop.</p><p>               “This is truly horrible,” he said, seeming to direct the statement more at Nina than anyone else. “I wish we could have been here to stop this.”</p><p>               “Yeah, me too,” Nina replied, refusing to let Nate’s comfort unsettle her. “But you have to work with what you’ve got, right? So, let’s just make sure this doesn’t happen to another kid.”</p><p>               Nate nodded, sending her a smile. “Well said, Nina.”</p><p>               A crime scene technician stepped towards the team of towering agents, appearing sheepish even through all their layers of protective clothing. “Agent Maddox ordered us to let you investigate the site once we’re all done so just to let you know we’re clearing up now.”</p><p>               “Understood,” it was Adam who answered, his solid frame turning entirely to face the crime scene. Even underneath his thick coat, the incredible tension in his back could be seen. He turned back momentarily to glance at the team and nodded towards alleyways. “Split up, investigate the alleyways surrounding the main site and the roofs of the buildings above us. Anything you find, report back immediately. Do not apprehend any suspects alone. Understood?”</p><p>He seemed to be aiming the last part of his orders specifically at Nina. Perhaps it was a sign of getting used to the team leader’s abrasive attitude, or perhaps the lingering effects of the dead body that fell out of the sky earlier that day, but Nina barely registered the comment.</p><p>               The rest of Unit Bravo nodded decisively and spread out, each to their own specific corner of the seedy alleyways and surrounding area. When she was finally alone, as if in some kind of trance, Nina ducked under the yellow tape surrounding the crime scene and approached the body. As she veered ever so closer to it, she bent down and unveiled the tarp covering the girl’s face and body. The girl stared back at her, bright eyes wide and full of accusation.</p><p>               Nina couldn’t look away.</p><p>               <em>This is your fault</em>, the girl seemed to whisper, <em>I died because of you.</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Not Fair</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Verda and Nina discuss the latest murder in town. Unit Bravo begin their investigation.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               “Her name was Angelica Lindholm,” Verda said, frowning deeply as he glanced down at the girl’s body laid out across the surgical table in his lab. She was covered by a white sheet up to her shoulders, but her face was still visible, her dark brown hair fanned around her face. There was an air of an eerie effect of Angelica almost appearing alive—that is, until you moved the sheet down and saw the gaping hole in her chest. “She was fourteen years old, visiting Wayhaven to see her grandmother.”</p><p>               Nina gulped, flicking her gaze away from the girl’s face as the pressure behind her eyes built up. “God,” she said, it was the breath of a whisper. The detective looked at Verda. “She didn’t deserve this.”</p><p>               “No,” Verda said sadly. “But no one really deserves this, do they?”</p><p>               Nina shrugged. “I guess not. But she had her whole life ahead of her. She had everything and it was ripped away from her.” Her hands were shaking, so she put her face in her hands to steady herself. And that way she wouldn’t have to look at Angelica’s dead body. “Fuck.”</p><p>               “Are you okay, Nina?” Verda asked, concern stringing in his voice.</p><p>               Nina’s hands fell away from her face as she nodded. “What else can you tell me?”</p><p>               “Not much until the techs in the city get back to me, unfortunately,” Verda admitted, opening the manila folder in his hands. “So far, it seems she was drugged and killed elsewhere. The removal of her heart wasn’t surgical—but I’m sure you could tell that much.”</p><p>               “It was hard not to notice the shredded skin and organs, yes,” Nina said, swallowing hard as she remembered the sound the body had made as it crashed on the ground.</p><p>               Verda nodded sympathetically. “It does seem someone brought her there for a reason.”</p><p>               “Could be that whoever killed her wanted the attention of the police,” Nina said. “Wanted to show off.”</p><p>               “Maybe,” Verda replied, his voice uncharacteristically quiet.</p><p>               Nina looked at him. “What’s wrong?”</p><p>               “Well,” Verda started, moving around the surgical table and closing the manila folder, placing it on one of his cabinets. “This is the third murder in Wayhaven. Not even a year has passed since the last two.” Verda turned his gaze to Nina’s. “What’s happening to this town?”</p><p>               “I’ll solve this,” Nina said, choosing not to answer Verda’s question. She didn’t want to think about what was happening to Wayhaven. Then she might have to come to terms with the fact that it was her fault all of this was happening. “And make sure no one else gets hurt again.” <em>Even if that means that I have to leave to ensure Wayhaven’s safety.</em></p><p>               Nina decided not to say that last part. Verda couldn’t know—she didn’t want to drag him into this like she had dragged Tina. It wasn’t fair—to him or his family.</p><p><em>               Shit</em>.</p><p>               Verda nodded, but the dark shadows underneath his eyes told her that this thought wouldn’t stop plaguing him. Nina wished she knew what to do but comforting others was never her forte—especially when it came to soothing pain she was guilty of bringing.</p><p>               “Tell me when the techs get back to you,” Nina said with an air of finality, looking around the cold lab with shiver. “Forward me any of the files you have on this, and—” she grabbed the manila folder from the cabinet, “—I’ll look over this in the process. Hopefully, I’ll be back with good news soon.”</p><p>               Verda nodded. “Good luck.”</p><p>               Nina couldn’t have gotten out of there quicker if she tried.</p><p>               When she finally took the last step and shut the door to the basement behind her, she fell back against it, her hands sticky with sweat despite the icy chill that permeated Verda’s lab. The police station was unusually quiet given the circumstances; no Tina chattering away to the volunteers in the kitchen, no annoying clicks from Douglas’ phone at the front desk, no sounds from the copier in the middle of the station… No sound apart from a bird pecking at the window on the far end of the station.</p><p>               The clatter of its beak against the glass stabbed at the edges of her hearing as she made her way to her office and took her seat, spilling the contents of the manila folder onto her desk. Angelica’s face stared out at her from the contents, her picture smiling and bright-eyed.</p><p>               “I’m sorry,” the words that left Nina’s lips were barely audible, “I’m so sorry.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p>     </p><p>               The next day, still nothing new was found by her or Verda. The techs in the city hadn’t gotten back to them with any information they might have gleamed from the crime scene. Nina had called Angelica’s parents and her grandmother the day prior in what turned out to be the worst phone call of her life—and she had to do it twice. Angelica’s mother had barely been able to breathe after she heard the news and her father was choking back sobs as he spoke to Nina about the details. Angelica’s grandmother had been silent, so long Nina thought she might’ve hung up. And then she cried—for what felt like hours. The ache in Nina’s chest hadn’t left since she began those calls.</p><p>               As quietly and politely as possible, Nina had told them they might have to come in to give statements and answer some questions and both parties had agreed through choked sobs and gasping breaths.</p><p>               But at least it was time to meet up with Unit Bravo. Something to cheer her up in the midst of all of this—they must have had more luck than her.</p><p>               As Nina made her way to the Warehouse, not even the lilting tune of songbirds and the bright rays of the sun made her feel better. Now, it all just felt like an accusation. She couldn’t even listen to the radio without Angelica’s ghost haunting her—it was the talk of the town. Why wouldn’t it be?</p><p>               Things like this weren’t supposed to happen in Wayhaven.</p><p>               After swiping her Agency ID across the reader, Nina found herself trying to navigate the winding, identical corridors of the Warehouse again. Things were so much simpler last time she had been here—the maa-alused had proved themselves to be allies, friends even. This was a nightmare.</p><p>               “Nina!” Farah greeted her as soon as she had opened the door to the living room—and, incidentally, their meeting room. She was wearing a bright orange headband, the top she had tucked into her ripped jeans matching the colour almost exactly. “I thought you might never get here! Do you know how boring it is being stuck with the fun police?” She gestured her thumb to Adam, Nate and Morgan on the other side of the room.</p><p>               ‘The fun police’ didn’t seem appreciative of her comments, with Adam and Morgan glowering at the youngest agent with their arms crossed, and a frown tugging Nate’s gentle features down.</p><p>               “What?” Farah asked, turning around to face the rest of Unit Bravo’s offended expressions. She shrugged. “It’s true.”</p><p>               “Nice to see you too.” Nina chuckled, her eyes tilted towards the rest of Unit Bravo, specifically becoming glued to one member in particular. Nina tried to look away from his intense green gaze. “All of you, even ‘the fun police’.”</p><p>               At her words Farah snickered.</p><p>               “Most amusing,” Adam said, arms still crossed over his chest. “I’m sure the murder victim we found appreciates your humour.”</p><p>               Nina flinched, turning away from him. The words sat uneasy in her chest. She tried to push her thoughts away as she took the closest seat she could find to the windows, letting the sunlight warm her skin but the shivers wouldn’t stop.</p><p>               “Okay, let’s all relax,” Nate started, holding his hands up in an attempt to relieve the tension hanging over the room. “This is a stressful time for us all. Let’s not turn on each other so early into the investigation.”</p><p>The words did little to settle the chill in Nina’s chest, but she nodded, albeit feebly. When the detective glanced back at the team leader, there was a frown on his face and his gaze visibly softened as his eyes fell over her. Adam opened his mouth to speak but the door to the living room opened and Rebecca strode in, her heels clicking across the hardwood floors.</p><p>               “You’re all here,” she said. “Good. Let’s get started.”</p><p>               Adam straightened up almost immediately, his hands folded behind his back as he acknowledged Rebecca. “Ma’am.”</p><p>               It was still entirely too weird for Nina to know that her friends and colleagues had this relationship with her mother—they had more respect for and fear of her than she ever had in her life. Not that their relationship was bad per se, but they certainly weren’t close, and she didn’t exactly enjoy having her own mother being her boss.</p><p>               “What did you find out?” Nina asked, skipping the pleasantries as she sensed Rebecca approaching her. She wasn’t in the mood for making up for lost time today. “Was it definitely supernatural?”</p><p>               A frown flashed across Rebecca’s face before it returned to her neutral, professional mask. “Yes, Unit Bravo found a scent and feathers to indicate it was a supernatural creature that killed that girl.”</p><p>               “Great,” Nina said, swallowing hard. It had been all but confirmed that a supernatural was behind this murder, but still, a small part of her had hoped that maybe, just maybe this would be a normal, human murderer that wasn’t magically drawn to Wayhaven because of her. That might have stopped the guilt slowly gnawing at her insides.</p><p>               “But that’s all we found,” Morgan grunted, crossing her arms across her sternum as she perched on a desk in the darkest corner of the room. “Not exactly useful.”</p><p>               “Not necessarily,” Nate said, his tone equal measure optimistic and chiding. “Knowing that it is a supernatural with feathers narrows down our search and we can better focus on our research this way.”</p><p>               Morgan snorted in response, but when Rebecca sent her a disapproving stare across the room her mouth shut immediately in response and she turned her head away from the group, almost in shame. It was odd to see someone who usually cared so little what others thought of her act this way. But Nina had already observed her mother’s influence on the rest of Unit Bravo, so she supposed this wasn’t the most surprising to witness.</p><p>               “Exactly, Nate,” Rebecca agreed, opening up a manila folder from her briefcase. “This has all the information we have managed to gleam from the crime scene. It will aid to narrow your search even further.”</p><p>               “In the meantime,” Adam continued, almost as an extension of Rebecca’s sentence, “we will have to double our patrols of Wayhaven.”</p><p>               “Good idea.” Heads turned in Nina’s direction at her approval, as if they were expecting her to protest the team spending extended periods of time in the town. “What?” Nina asked, huffing. “I want to catch this murderer just as much, if not more, than you guys. No other kid is dying in my town.”</p><p>               “I am glad to have your faith and support, detective,” Adam said, his voice surprisingly hoarse. Nina’s heart sped up in her chest against her better instincts as her eyes instinctively sought out Adam’s green ones, shining in the partial light of the sunset with surprising intensity. There was a deep ache inside her that called out to him in a way she tried her best to bury. Then, as if he had woken up from a deep sleep, Adam shook his head and cleared his throat. “As I am sure the rest of the team is too. It will be conductive to the investigation to have the support of the police department.”</p><p>               “Smooth,” Farah whispered, almost too quiet to hear. Nina wouldn’t have heard at all if she wasn’t sitting beside her.</p><p>               Rebecca continued as if nothing had happened. “In any case, Unit Bravo will continue patrolling and you will be needed at the Warehouse for research whenever you have free time from the station. Otherwise, I’m sure Nate wouldn’t mind lending you some tomes to look over at your office.”</p><p>               Nate smiled brightly. “Of course!” The rest of Unit Bravo turned to him in shock. Nate just kept smiling, though he side-eyed a hard stare at the rest of the team at the same time. “I <em>know</em> I can trust you to handle my books with care.”</p><p>               Nina returned the smile. “Thank you, Nate. I will return them in perfect condition.”</p><p>               Nate nodded. “I don’t doubt it.”</p><p>               “Good,” Rebecca stated, opening her briefcase and taking over several thick folders and files and laying them on the table beside her. “Now if that’s all settled, here is everything the Agency has gathered on the investigation and potential leads so far. I will continue to check in but don’t hesitate to call if anything requires my attention.”</p><p>               And with that, Rebecca closed her briefcase back up, and nodded at the team. The members of Unit Bravo immediately dispersed, each taking a folder and spreading around the room to read in peace. When Nina stood up to take a copy herself, she found Rebecca blocking her way, a tense smile sitting uncomfortably on her lips.</p><p>               “How are you?” she asked tentatively, as if any sudden movement might spook Nina into running away. Nina almost scoffed at the care with which Rebecca handled her, as if she were glass. “I didn’t get a chance to check in earlier.”</p><p>               “I’m fine, don't worry so much,” Nina said, waving her hand dismissively. “I’ve seen this before, in case you forgot.”</p><p>               Rebecca pursed her lips. “I know, and I’m sorry about that.”</p><p>               Nina looked away from her mother. “What’s done is done.”</p><p>               A silence hung in the air as the two women examined each other, one with arms-crossed and a barely contained scowl on her lips and the other pin-straight and worried.</p><p>               “I’m here for you,” Rebecca said finally, she reached out a hand and placed it on Nina’s cheek. “You don’t have to do this alone.”</p><p>               She wouldn’t help but think it was too little, too late but she decided not to voice those thoughts. A fight was the last thing on her mind right now.</p><p>               “Thanks,” Nina mumbled, carefully moving past Rebecca and to the table with the files laid out. “I’ll keep that in mind.”</p><p>               As she picked up the files and began to read through them, she barely heard Rebecca’s heels click across the hardwood floors and the door close behind her. Nina didn’t want to be alone, but maybe it was easier this way. A sigh she hadn't realised she had been holding in escaped her lips.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Late Nights and Childhood Trauma</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Bad memories and hopeless realisations rue the night as Nina works on the case.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               It was late. Nina knew that. Outside her office window, the world was still and dark, the streetlights flickered as they often did, the sound of crickets and foxes from the nearby forest the only music filling her ears. Nina’s eyes strained against the yellow light emanating from the lamps in her office and the bright blue light from her monitor. The files scattered across her desk were dense, with scribbled notes in pink wherever she thought she had found a connection. The books Nate had lent her lay in a corner, one sprawled across her lap.</p><p>               It was a long process.</p><p>               Nina had given the night shift volunteers the night off, knowing she would be stuck in her office likely until the morning when Douglas and Verda would take over. She didn’t even want to imagine Verda’s disappointed fatherly frown at seeing Nina over-worked and sleep deprived. Again.</p><p>               A sigh escaped Nina’s lips as she shook her head and dispersed her distracting thoughts.</p><p>               Just as her mind had begun refocusing on the case files in front of her, she heard the front doors to the station squeak open and jumped in her seat. Instinctively, her hand flashed to her gun. Heart racing, the young detective stood up as quietly as possible from her chair and stalked around her desk, glancing through the window partition to find—to her utter surprise—Adam making his way through the station towards her.</p><p>               She breathed a sigh of relief.</p><p>               Even in her sleep-deprived and paranoid state, Nina’s heart stuttered in her chest at the sight of him. His strong, handsome features were illuminated by the moon shining through the windows, enhancing how attractive he already was. The detective sucked in a breath, trying not to let him know with every fibre of her being how weak she felt whenever she was in his presence.</p><p>               “Detective,” Adam said as a way of greeting as he approached her. He eyed the gun in her hands. “Expecting somebody else?”</p><p>               “Sorry, I’m a little jumpy, but I guess that happens when someone’s supernatural bait,” Nina explained, putting her gun away and rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. Even still, Nina couldn’t help the smile that broke out across her face. She held the door to her office open as an invitation inside. “What are you doing here? Not that I’m complaining or anything, I was just wondering, I don’t usually get nightly visits like this…” Her words trailed off in a hurried blend and she almost slapped herself in reprimand, her cheeks heating up.</p><p>               “I was on patrol and noticed that your office light was on,” Adam said, glancing at Nina before immediately averting his gaze. There seemed to be an amused twist to the otherwise straight line of his lips. “I was concerned.”</p><p>               The explanation made sense, even if Nina deflated a little at the professional reason. She shook her head, trying to dispel her disappointment.</p><p>               “Well,” she said finally, “thank you. But no need to worry, I’m just going over the case files of the victim and the old tomes Nate lent me.” Nina let out a breathy laugh. “No rest for the wicked, right?”</p><p>               Adam raised an eyebrow at her words, a hint of amusement sparkling in his icy green eyes, glancing warily at the five empty coffee cups scattered throughout her office. “Surely, with rest comes clarity. You might require that to solve this case.”</p><p>               Nina wasn’t sure whether he was joking with her or reprimanding her. The usual tension which radiated between them didn’t help to make her feel any more at ease.</p><p>               “Ah,” she said, pushing her glasses further up her nose, “don’t worry, my cat often tells me I work best hopped up on caffeine and no sleep. I’m just relieved my plants haven’t turned him against me yet.”</p><p>               Adam furrowed his brows at her words.</p><p>               “Sorry.” Nina smiled, her cheeks red. “No sleep, too much caffeine and looking at a dead body all day equals bad jokes.”</p><p>               Nina wasn’t sure whether it was the sleep deprivation or the dim nature of the office, but she thought she saw Adam’s lips quirk up into a fond smile, his expression softening. But it must have been her sleepless mind because when she blinked it was gone once again.</p><p>               Nina’s eyes trailed over Adam’s muscular figure as he slowly shrugged the grey peacoat he wore from his shoulders, his muscles rippling as he carefully laid it across the back of Nina’s chair. The room suddenly felt very warm.</p><p>               Then, as if sensing her attention on him, the team leader turned away from her sharply and walked around her office, glancing through the endless case files, newspaper clippings and heavy books spread around the office erratically. She let him wander as she began collecting herself back up. This involved tightening the messy bun on her head, checking the state of the smell of her breath and her armpits to ensure she at least resembled an adequately put together adult.</p><p>               Nina startled when Adam finally spoke.</p><p>               “What is this?” he asked, a newspaper clipping in his hands.</p><p>               After swallowing down her surprise, Nina walked over expecting to explain some boring yet endearing Wayhaven story. When her eyes settled on the heading of the newspaper he held in his hands, she found she couldn’t breathe.</p><p><em>               ‘</em><em>Mystery Accident Causes Teen Fatality</em><em>’</em>.</p><p>               Directly underneath the heading, there was a picture of a dark theme park, a body sprawled out across the ground in front of a rollercoaster and someone hunched over the body. No. Not someone—it was <em>her</em>.</p><p>               As the memories flooded her system, Nina struggled for breath and fell against her desk to support the weight her body wouldn’t.</p><p>               She thought she’d thrown that damned thing out years ago.</p><p>               “Are you okay?” Adam asked, his voice unusually soft and quiet. He eyed her cautiously, his eyes softening until all she could see was their emerald green. “I apologise if this is personal.”</p><p>               At his words Nina took a shuddering breath that turned into a cynical chuckle. “About as personal as it can get, I’m afraid.”</p><p>               “Do you…” Adam hesitated, his hands unclenched and hovered in the air, as if to reach out to her. With what seemed like intense deliberation, he lowered them again. Nina frowned at that, confused. Adam never hesitated. “Do you wish to talk about it?”</p><p>               Nina shook her head. “When do we ever want to talk about the things that hurt us the most?” she asked quietly, meeting Adam’s eyes with tears brimming in her own. She glanced away quickly, trying to blink them away. “But it’s only fair if you know… After everything that happened in the House of Mirrors…”</p><p>               At her words, it was Adam who looked away from her.</p><p>               But Nina didn’t let that discourage her. He deserved to know.</p><p>               She took a deep breath.</p><p>               “I was a bit of a troublemaker as a teenager,” she started, smiling sadly. Adam raised his eyebrows at her words, genuine surprise filling his eyes. “I know,” she said in response to his look, “I hardly look it now. I never got into any serious trouble, even if I did warrant it. Misdemeanours were my middle name.” Nina laughed. “One night, me and a friend snuck into a theme park in the big city after it was locked down. We thought we were so cool…” She trailed off, the dark memories of the night filling her with dread.</p><p>               She could hear her own screams ringing in her ears.</p><p>               Shaking her head, she winced at the memory. But the unrelenting grip on her heart relaxed as a hand settled on her forearm. Nina followed the taut, muscled arm along to Adam’s face, scrunched in worry. Her heart lurched in her chest at the sight of his usually neutral mask breaking so easily. How could he be so kind now and so cold at other times?</p><p>               She shook her head, trying to focus on the memories. “My best friend—Eve—and I climbed this big wooden rollercoaster. It was supposed to be the biggest one in the area. We felt on top of the world. At that point, I guess we were…” She smiled sadly. “But somehow the rollercoaster power turned on. <em>The carts themselves turned on</em>.” Her voice was brittle. “We didn’t know what to do. We panicked. We tried to get off the frame in our desperate attempts to save our lives. Eve—she—” Nina’s voice broke and tears she couldn’t stop trickled down her cheeks.</p><p>               But she gasped in surprise as she was pulled in towards Adam. She let him wrap his arms tentatively around her as she returned the gesture, burying her face in his broad chest. She was definitely soaking his shirt in her tears as she choked out her sobs, but Adam made no complaint. Not even a grunt. To her surprise, instead, he raised one hand to stroke her hair as she shook with grief.</p><p>               “I’m here,” Adam said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper in her ear. “And I will not allow anything like that to occur again.”</p><p>               The words settled in Nina’s chest and made the ache more bearable to breathe through. Her heart was pounding in her chest, half out of grief and half out of the startling realisation that whatever it was that was going on between them, it went far beyond want or lust. She needed to share her whole world with him, even if it made her relive her most painful memories.</p><p>               Once she had reasonably calmed down, Nina hesitantly untangled herself from Adam’s arms. Adam resisted as if he did not want to let go, but eventually his arms fell away from her. A cold chill ran down her spine when her skin was no longer touching Adam’s. When she looked up at him, he wouldn’t meet her eye, a frown sitting on his face.</p><p>               “Thank you,” Nina breathed out, the ache inside her returning the second she felt Adam’s presence leave.</p><p>               Adam turned to look at her again. He nodded stiffly.</p><p>               Nina cleared her throat, glancing at the ground. “Eve… She let me climb down first. I was so afraid; she was there to help me through it… And she—” Nina choked on the words again. “She paid the price for it.”</p><p>               After a pause, Adam asked softly, “Who did it?”</p><p>               “That’s the mystery of it all, I’m afraid,” she looked up at him with a sad smile. “There was no one else there with us. Just me and Eve. CCTV footage showed no one else in, near or around the theme park. No gaps in the footage. The power did not short-circuit and accidentally turn on. It had to be deliberate and yet… There was nothing.”</p><p>               “I’m sorry,” Adam said finally.</p><p>               Nina nodded at his apology.</p><p>               Her eyes were blank and her cheeks wet.</p><p>               “I’ve spent my whole life searching for the answer. And then I find out supernaturals exist and my mother is in the middle of it all.” She laughed hollowly.</p><p>               Adam actually flinched at her words. “I am certain if she had been able to help you, she would have.”</p><p>               Nina looked away, not wanting to argue.</p><p>               She wrapped her arms around herself. “I still don’t know what happened.”</p><p>               The silence that reigned between them was almost deafening. The office around them unbearably cold, the night’s wind rushing through the only open window in the office and swallowing Nina whole. A shiver ran down her spine, so she wrapped her arms tighter around herself, inspecting the room around her. It was truly a mess, an image encapsulating her life. No wonder she never managed to find out what had happened that night.</p><p>               “I wish I could help,” Adam said finally.</p><p>                “If I was a good enough detective maybe I could figure out what happened.” Nina refused to look at Adam when she spoke, feeling her bitterness seep into her voice.</p><p>               “Don’t say that.” Adam’s voice was resolute, his commanding tone enough to draw Nina to look him in the eyes. “Some things are beyond even the best of us.”</p><p>               Nina felt another pang of grief at Adam’s words and she only managed a nod, a mumbled “thank you” escaping her as she stood up straight.</p><p>               Adam nodded. “Perhaps we should get you home, detective.”</p><p>               “Probably smart,” she mumbled.</p><p>               “I will drive you,” Adam said. “You must be exhausted.”</p><p>               Nina nodded, shooting Adam a smile of appreciation. As she packed up her briefcase with some files she could look at from home over the weekend and threw on her coat, she stopped by the newspaper clipping of her best friend’s death. Nina swallowed hard as she read over the heading again. It made her nauseous. Without hesitation she ripped the paper up and hurled it into the bin.</p><p>               “Let’s go,” she snapped, sweeping out of the room without looking back.</p><p>               It was a short drive back to her apartment building, Adam carefully leading them down the empty, dark roads of the town. Before she even noticed, they were making their way up the staircase of her building, a not uncomfortable silence settled between them.</p><p>               Adam watched as she turned her keys in the door and opened it. Instant relief rushed back to her as she inhaled the smell of the blueberry and banana muffins she’d made the day before, her cat rushing towards the door to greet her by curling around her legs. It was enough to make her smile.</p><p>               When Nina turned around, there was even a small smile lifting up the corners of Adam’s lips as he watched her cat greet her. Crumbs was a fluffy white cat with a squished face no one at the shelter wanted. From the second she laid eyes on him lazing in a sun patch, not caring about the other people visiting the shelter she knew he was the one. The first night he spent at her apartment, he didn’t even let her near him. Now, he ran to her whenever she came home and cuddled up on her lap, swatting her arm if she wasn’t petting him.</p><p>               “Don’t worry, Crumbs can take over from now,” she said smiling.</p><p>               Looking up at Adam now, she definitely saw some… similarities between Crumbs and the team leader. It did seem the longer she spent around him, the more comfortable he became. Maybe one day, she’d be lucky enough to have him curl up in her lap as well. The idea of Adam ever being that affectionate and needy made her bite back a grin.</p><p>               “I don’t doubt it,” he said in an equally joking manner. “He seems like more than an adequate companion.”</p><p>               “Thank you,” Nina said suddenly, her heart caught in her throat as she tried to vocalise just how much what he had done for her tonight meant to her. “For everything.”</p><p>               Before Adam could respond, Nina leaned forward achingly slowly and leant up to press a chaste kiss on Adam’s cheek. Her lips tingled at the touch, Adam shivering beneath the kiss. Her hands were on his shoulders, keeping her steady and she could feel his rigid muscles underneath her fingers. She wanted to rip that coat off him and feel him properly. It would be a lie to admit she didn’t keep her lips pressed to his cheek longer than acceptable, her body screaming out at her to pull him in towards her and never let him go.</p><p>               But she had to.</p><p>               And so, she did.</p><p>               When she leaned back to gauge his reaction, she found that he had frozen almost completely solid and—to her surprise—that his hands were hovering inches from her hips. As if he had meant to hold on. As if he had meant to pull her in.</p><p>               Nina bit the inside of her cheek. <em>Surely not</em>.</p><p>               “I—” Adam’s voice stuttered in his throat on the words. He stumbled away from her, as if in fear. “I need to go.”</p><p>               Nina wanted to reach out and make him stay. She wanted him to hold her tight through the night so the nightmares wouldn’t plague her. She wanted to hug him again—to be completely surrounded by him, his body, his scent.</p><p>               But instead, she watched him leave as her heart beat against her chest with the strength of war drums.</p><p>               In that moment, Nina knew that Farah was right.</p><p>               She was in love with Adam du Mortain.</p><p>
  <em>               God help her.</em>
</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Deserve</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               The sound of his heart pounding in his ears was all he could hear. A weight like he had never felt before sat on his chest and made it almost impossible to breathe. He could hear the door closing as he rounded the corner to the stairwell and stopped. The part of his cheek Nina had kissed still burned like her lips had left a permanent mark. Adam lifted a hand to his cheek to rub it away, but it did nothing. He could feel it. He could feel her. Her soft hands on his shoulders, her scent surrounded and consumed him—the light aroma of sweet lilies and the lemon perfume she always wore. The warmth that sparked between them as they stood at the doorway still heated his skin.</p><p>               The landing to Nina’s apartment was empty, just the whistle of the wind and the moonlight swamping the corridors and casting shadows across the doors leading to apartments. Though, only one of those that mattered.</p><p>               Adam needed to leave—he knew that. His hand gripped the heavy door to the stairwell, his fingers making indents in the metal. He just needed to leave. He needed…</p><p>Her. He needed to see her again, to see her smile, feel her lips on his skin. The urge to pull her close and not let go when she had leaned up to kiss his cheek… He thought he was going to give in. It was torture in the plainest sense of the word. Every fibre of his being had ached to touch her.</p><p>               <em>No</em>.</p><p>               Adam whipped his hand away from the door and took a chunk of the metal with him. He growled at the destruction, letting it drop to the ground. It was hard to breathe, his chest rising in shallow and rapid breaths. Without letting his heart convince him otherwise, Adam gritted his teeth and turned to leave.</p><p>               And then he heard it. Nina’s voice from inside her apartment, song spilling from her lips as if no one could hear—technically, no one should have been able to hear. It was an unwanted thought. And yet, Adam couldn’t stop himself from leaving the stairwell and walking towards her front door. He let his fingers touch the hardwood and feel the vibrations from the music, hear the clatter of pans and the whirr of a mixer.</p><p>               A smile fought its way onto his lips against every instinct. It was three in the morning, and of course Nina was singing and baking after an intense day of research and work. It was like light couldn’t help but spill out of her every seam, like there wasn’t enough room in her body for the radiance of her spirit.  </p><p>               For a moment, Adam let himself imagine.</p><p>               <em>But she deserves better</em>, he scowled at the thought, an ache in his chest he couldn’t explain, <em>she deserves better than me</em>.</p><p>               This time he left and didn’t look back.</p><p> </p><hr/><p>              </p><p>               “Detective Maddox speaking, how can I help?” Nina’s response was automatic, she had barely glanced at the caller ID as she picked up her phone, too busy burying her nose in an ancient book Nate had let her borrow.</p><p>               “My, my, Nina.” The familiar voice instantly brought a grin to her lips. “Already forgotten about your best friend with your head up in supernatural heaven?”</p><p>               Nina bit back a laugh. “I could never forget that ego.”</p><p>               “Good!” Tina exclaimed through the phone.</p><p>               This time, Nina didn’t hold back her laughter. “It’s so good to hear from you. You have no idea how much I needed to talk to you.”</p><p>               “Hmm,” Tina said, “I think I have a bit of an idea seeing as I am still allowed to read the news in my sequester.”</p><p>               “So… you know.” Nina’s voice was quiet.</p><p>               “Yep.”</p><p>               “Well,” Nina started, feeling her heart rate spike, “I’m glad you found out. I didn’t exactly know how to drop this news on you while you can’t do anything to help right now.”</p><p>               There was silence on the other side, then Tina’s voice again, uncharacteristically quiet, “I still don’t know all the details. You know they leave out all the good parts out of the papers.”</p><p>               “Believe me, the details won’t make it easier to be away from the town,” Nina said, partially because she didn’t want to have to relive the horrific details of the crime, and partially because she didn’t want her best friend’s conscience plagued by problems she couldn’t solve.</p><p>               “I thought that might be the case,” Tina replied, her voice still on edge. “I’m kind of glad I don’t know. At least for now, until I come back. It would be a real bummer to take a beating every day for this training programme while also taking a mental beating from the guilt of not being there.”</p><p>               Nina tried to force a laugh, glancing around her office. Still stacked with papers and books—still a mess of unsolved shame. “It won’t be long now until you’re back so don’t start going stir crazy now.”</p><p>               “Yeah, and I can’t wait!” Tina’s voice returned some of its normal upbeat tone. “But listen, I gotta go. They’re kind of strict on the phone usage—we’re kind of meant to be purging and connecting to ourselves or whatever shit they said.”</p><p>               “Okay, I’ll let you go,” Nina said reluctantly, aching for more time with her best friend.</p><p>               “Hey, Nina? Before I go, can I ask you one thing?” Tina asked.</p><p>               “Yeah, shoot.”</p><p>               There was another bout of silence from her usually chatty best friend. “Is this murder involved with the supernatural?”</p><p>               The question caught Nina by surprise. Of course, she had led Tina to discovering all about the supernatural and the vampire nature of Unit Bravo. But in the time Tina had been gone and the murder investigation, she had almost forgotten. Now, the guilt came rushing back tenfold.</p><p>A headache began to throb at her temples.</p><p>               “Yes,” she said finally, after what felt like an hour of silence. “Yes, it was.”</p><p>               “In that case, take care of yourself, huh?” Tina said. “Don’t want any scratches on my best friend when I come back. Just… stay safe.”</p><p>               “I will,” Nina said, knowing it was a lie. “I can’t wait until you come back.”</p><p>               “Me neither, alright, now I really gotta go.” There was grumbling in the background of Tina’s call and a shout. From the other end of the call, Nina heard a yelp and the call ended before she could even say goodbye.</p><p>               The room felt a lot colder all of a sudden. Nina put her phone away, fiddling with the hem of her jumper as the absence of Tina’s presence really hit her. Tina was one of the only reminders of her old life before all of this danger started following her around. Now she was gone, in more ways than just physical. Now, Tina knew about the supernatural. Nina couldn’t play pretend and act like she was a normal person. That part of her life was gone. She had cut it off when she let Tina learn about this other world. All of her decisions were beginning to feel like mistakes…</p><p>               But learning about the supernatural and their world was honestly the most thrilling project Nina had ever worked on. Reading through Nate’s books in the library of the Warehouse, curled up on the sofas with a warm mug of coffee beside her made her heart rest easy—it was as if she had found the key to making the world make sense. And yet, actually experiencing this dark side. It scared her. Darkness had always intrigued her; she wanted to shine a light and see the darkest corners of this world. This was unfamiliar territory.</p><p>               Nina sighed, running a ragged hand through her brown hair, letting her fingers feather through it and relax. The world was still there. It still needed to be explored.           </p><p>               The sun filtered through the blinds of her office windows, and she extended her neck up, allowing the sun’s rays to warm her skin. It was a bright, spring day. The office was quiet and smelled exactly like it did before the supernatural entered Nina’s life. Printer ink, stale coffee and that innate metallic scent of handcuffs that somehow clung to the air like rust. The pink, flowered plant Adam had knocked over had since been replaced. A large, green and purple succulent sat in its place on top of the filing cabinet instead.</p><p>               Nina took a deep, long breath.</p><p>               Everything was still the same.</p><p>               Now, she just knew more—and knowledge was never something to regret.</p><p>               Just as the thoughts helped to settle her fluttering heart in her chest, the doors to the station swung open with a loud bang and Unit Bravo appeared in the doorway. Farah was rubbing her shoulder and grinning.</p><p>               “What?” Nina could hear Farah grumble to a no doubt chiding Nate. “You gotta make an entrance!”</p><p>               Nina stifled the pleasant surprise at seeing her team there—yes, it was her team, that would take a while to get used to—and smiled. Moving around her office, she made her way across the station and smiled in greeting. “What are you guys doing here? We weren’t supposed to meet until tomorrow.”</p><p>               “Morgan sniffed someone out, and we thought it best to patrol the town and check in,” Adam explained stiffly, barely nodding in acknowledgement of her greeting.</p><p>               Adam was wearing his usual aviators to hide his eyes and his woollen peacoat, standing as stiff as a rock. Nina wondered whether this was partly due to what happened last night—whether he remembered her touch as much as she remembered his. But that was just wishful thinking.</p><p>               Nate smiled brightly, in complete contrast to his oldest friend. He wore his normal layers of flannel and shirts underneath a newly bought denim jacket, a departure from his usual leather—it fit the nice, spring sunshine outside and his charming smile well. “It’s nice to see you again, though. How have you been?”</p><p>               “Not as bad as I thought I would be honestly,” Nina answered, determined not to let Adam ruin her newly found good mood. “I’m just happy to have things to keep me busy while we’re still looking for this asshole. You?”</p><p>               “I feel quite the feel, I’m glad there’s some research to take my mind off things,” Nate replied earnestly, his smile never leaving his face, but it did shrink as he said his next words. “I wish we could do more. There are no words to express my concern.”</p><p>               The words really struck home with Nina—her sentiments were exactly the same. That’s all she could think whenever she wasn’t working. A swell of emotion made speaking difficult.</p><p>               But before she got a chance to respond, Farah cut in. “Geez, Natey, get any gloomier and it might actually start raining in this place!”</p><p>               “Have you seen anything?” Adam intervened before either Nate or Farah could get into it. He still wouldn’t look at her as he talked.</p><p>               Nina shook her head.</p><p>               Finally, Adam turned his head towards her, but behind his aviators and that stoic mask, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. “Perhaps it would be best for one of us to stay here as a precaution.”</p><p>               “Good idea!” Farah exclaimed. She arched an eyebrow at the team leader. “I know exactly who should stay.”</p><p>               Adam didn’t deign her goading with a response, instead turning fully away from the team to look out over the station. His back was pin-straight and his hands tucked tightly into the pockets of his coat. Nina tried with every fibre not to stare at him, his profile cast in the sunshine.</p><p>               Before the tension in the station between Unit Bravo reached new heights, the front doors opened again. This time, a man walked in, the collar of his coat raised to obscure his mouth and a hood covering his face. Immediately, Nina tensed—this would be too obvious. Surely, a supernatural intent on murder would not be this obvious. The rest of Unit Bravo tensed as well, turning to face the stranger, and partially obscuring Nina from view.</p><p>               The tensions immediately eased from her shoulders as the man drew back the hoodie and smiled brightly at the four intimidating vampires before him. “Hello!” he piped. The man was average in height, with ruddy cheeks and bright blue eyes, his ginger hair curled around his ears. “I was hoping to speak with Detective Maddox.”</p><p>               “Yes,” Nina said, stepping out from behind her vampire teammates and offering the man a kind smile. She reached out and shook his offered hand. “I’m Detective Maddox. Is something wrong?”</p><p>               “Nice to meet you, detective!” He replied, still full of bright smiles. He withdrew his hand and glanced around the vampires with a somewhat nervous glint in his eyes. “I’m Colin, Hayley is my cousin. She said she knew you?”</p><p>               Nina’s smile widened; she should’ve recognised the resemblance immediately. Not in the ginger hair, but those bright blue eyes and round, pink cheeks. “Of course,” she said, smile still in place, “any family or friend of Hayley’s is welcome here.”</p><p>Colin nodded, a shaky laugh escaping his lips. “Would you mind if we spoke in private?”</p><p>               “Of course, my apologies, right this way,” Nina said as she began to lead him across the station and towards her office. Before she got out of the sight of vampires, a hand grabbed her and spun her around. Face to face with Adam, Nina found her breath knocked out of her lungs.</p><p>               “Just… be careful,” was all he said.</p><p>               Nina nodded.</p><p>               Adam’s fingers slowly let go of her arm and twisted away from her hastily. Farah snickered. But Nina decided not to linger on the feeling spinning around her head as she turned back to Colin and welcomed him into her office.</p><p>               Once she had taken her seat at her desk comfortably, she turned to Colin who seemed even more uneasy now that he was alone with her in the office. Nina tried to ignore the niggling feeling in her stomach and sent a reassuring smile over Colin’s way. “Please, sit,” she said.</p><p>               But Colin didn’t sit.</p><p>               Nina tried not to let the frown that fought its way onto her face to show. “What did you want to talk to me about?”</p><p>               It was clear from the way he was wincing that he had tried to smile, his hands rubbed over one another. This was starting to get weird.</p><p>               “I have information on the death of Eve Beaumont.”</p><p>               Nina’s heart stopped in her chest. “What?”</p><p>               “Eve Beaumont,” Colin repeated, nerves alight in his voice. He shuffled a step closer to Nina’s desk and she didn’t know whether to throttle him or laugh. There was no way—<em>no way</em>—that Hayley’s cousin who doesn’t even live in Wayhaven to know about this, let alone have information. <em>No.</em></p><p>               The barely hidden rage and disbelief clearly woven into Nina’s features didn’t seem to deter Colin, who kept speaking. “I know who killed her.”</p><p>               “How dare you?” The words spilled out of Nina’s mouth before she could stop herself. Her heart pounded in her ears, deafening—she was surprised she could hear Colin at all. Nina stood up and scraped her chair back, walking around her desk to stare Colin down.</p><p>               Colin visibly flinched at her close proximity. But this still didn’t seem to faze him enough to stop the next words from falling out of his mouth. “I know who killed Eve.” Colin paused; his hands shook. “And he’s coming for you.”</p><p>               “What the—"</p><p>               In the blink of an eye, Colin leapt across the small space between them and his shaking hands wrapped around Nina’s throat. For someone who seemed to shake with fear at her very presence, he seemed determined. Nina struggled for breath as his pudgy hands squeezed tighter. Pain exploded at the tight grasp, her own hands flying out blindly and taking hold of her attacker’s face. She dug her fingernails into his skin, pushing him as hard as she could. Hot liquid spilled down her hands.</p><p>               But her strength was waning. She couldn’t breathe.</p><p>               Colin kept squeezing.</p><p>               She desperately scratched at the hands around her throat.</p><p>               But she couldn’t breathe.</p><p>               She was going to die in her own office.</p><p>               Her hands fell away from her attacker, limp.</p><p>               Nina closed her eyes.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Life Is Not Safe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nina and Unit Bravo interrogate Colin. Nina finally asks the question was afraid of.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               Suddenly, the pressure released.</p><p>               Nina’s eyelids shot open. White light flooded her senses. She fell to the floor, gasping. Knees cracking on the hard tiles; she reached for air with her lungs, her hands flying to her throat to massage the pain away. It felt like fire searing around her neck. Each gasp for air came with burning agony, her throat bruised and aching. <em>She </em>was burning.</p><p>               Nina could barely focus on her surroundings, but she heard a crash and glass splattered around the office, shards flying everywhere. There was a scream of pain, but, to her surprise, it wasn’t her own.</p><p>               Then, someone’s arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her to her feet with surprising tenderness. She gladly fell against the person for support, her own strength slowly gathering. When Nina finally managed to gain awareness of her surroundings and breathe through the pain, the scene around her made her gasp.</p><p>               This time, it was shock.</p><p>               Colin was on the floor, on the other side of the partition, unconscious. The window partition itself was completely shattered, the glass splayed around the station and all over Colin on the ground, whose face bled. Morgan stood over him, probably to keep watch. But, thankfully, he seemed to be out for the count.</p><p>               Farah and Nate stared over her hunched figure in concern—she could tell both of her friends were barely holding back the urge to reach out for her. So that meant…</p><p>               Nina turned as much as she could in Adam’s tight yet gentle grasp to face him. His aviators had apparently fallen off in the fight and she could see the worry clear in his pale green eyes, which scanned over her with… panic. The sight of the concern and worry knotted in Adam’s face was almost as shocking as being strangled in her own police station.</p><p>               Tentatively, Nina reached out and placed a hand on Adam’s chest to steady herself. Adam’s own hand reached from her side where he had been supporting her and reached with great hesitation towards her. His fingers brushed against her cheek softly, tucking the strands of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear as they continued to trail her jaw, only to finally rest on her cheek.</p><p>               “I told you to be careful,” he said, but there was no force behind the words—they were almost a whisper. His hand caressed her cheek, his eyes never falling from hers.</p><p>               Nina tried to smile but it fell flat. Tears welled behind her eyes and she tried to blink them away. When she tried to speak, no words came out, just a soft croak. Pain lanced through her neck at the attempt to speak.</p><p>               “Thank you,” she tried to speak again, this time putting more purpose and effort into her words. Her voice was still hoarse, but comprehensible. Adam nodded; his hand still cupped around her face as if she might disappear if he let her go. Nina nuzzled her face further in his touch. “What happened?”</p><p>               “Oh, Nina! You should’ve seen it!” Farah exclaimed, startling Nina out of her relief. The detective shifted in Adam’s arms to look at the vampire, worry in her gold eyes mixing in with the wide smile on her lips. “Adam blinked in here faster than light and threw that guy through the window! I thought he would rip him apart, honestly.”</p><p>               Farah’s loud voice seemed to startle Adam and he snapped back his hand from Nina’s face almost immediately, taking a wide step back but keeping one hand on her back to keep her steady. The ache in her neck seemed to double at the absence of his comfort. But the detective powered through the pain, standing up straighter without Adam’s hands to keep her steady.</p><p>               “Are you okay?” Nate asked finally, almost in a blur. It seemed like he had been holding that question in while Nina calmed down and took in the situation. “We’ve already called Agent Maddox. The agency will be here soon, they’ll take care of you.”</p><p>               Nina nodded. “Thank you, Nate,” she said, trying not to let the pain show on her face. There was a swell of emotion bursting in her chest at how much her teammates truly cared about her, but she shook the thought away. There would be time for that later. “But I will be okay. We need to arrest Colin, clean this place up, and make sure no one saw this happen.”</p><p>               Thankfully, the station was empty. It was lunch time and Nina had let the volunteers and Douglas off for the hour—they wouldn’t be back here for another twenty minutes. They had some time to think and decide on a cover-up. The office was a mess of blood and broken glass. There was blood on Nina’s fingers where she had dug them into Colin’s skin, bits of skin underneath her fingernails.</p><p>               She shoved them deep into her pockets without another thought, taking a shuddering breath.</p><p>               “You sound just like your mother,” Nate commented, a gentle smile still lifting his lips.</p><p>               Nina tried to imitate the gesture. “I guess working well under pressure runs in the family.” Before the rest of Unit Bravo could respond, Nina continued her train of thoughts, intimately afraid of what they would lead to. “I can’t believe he would do something like this…” she trailed off.</p><p>               It still hurt to speak.</p><p>               Farah stepped forward. “What happened?” She stopped as if she just realised what it sounded like. “I mean, before all the strangling and crap.”</p><p>               “Farah!” Nate chided.</p><p>               Nina cut in before Farah could respond. “He… He said that he knew who killed Eve.”</p><p>               At her words, Adam’s head whipped around to meet her eyes, recognition shining brightly in the pale green. It seemed he remembered their conversation from last night. With the recognition, there was something else there too… But Nina couldn’t focus enough to recognise the look he gave her.</p><p>               “How could he know that? What did he want?” Adam questioned; concern far heavier on his tone than anything else.</p><p>               Nina shrugged half-heartedly, turning her gaze away. “I don’t know.”</p><p>               “Did he say anything else? Like why he was dumb enough to attack you with us right there?” Morgan pushed further, an unlit cigarette hanging from her lips. The vampire prodded the unconscious Colin with her boot. “Idiot.”</p><p>               The ghost of a smile crossed Nina’s lips at Morgan’s own spin on showing concern for her—somehow, it made her feel even more part of the team. The brooding vampire rarely let her concern for others show. Her pounding heartrate settled. She was safe—at least, for now.</p><p>               But Morgan’s question still clung to the tension in the air like sticky toffee. An uncomfortable silence followed before Nina took a deep breath to steady herself.</p><p>               “Yeah,” she admitted, her voice barely a whisper. She looked up at the vampires surrounding her, shifting on the spot. “He said that whoever killed Eve is coming for me too.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>               “No!” Adam growled; his rage barely contained beneath his usually unbreakable mask. “I will not allow it. You must stay with us at the Warehouse. You are not safe on your own!”</p><p>               Nina pinched the bridge of her nose. They had been arguing in circles ever since the Agency had shown up.</p><p>               “I’ll be fine! You have to trust me. Life is not all about safety, Adam!” She almost immediately apologised at her outburst—it was entirely out of character for her. But almost dying has a way of making things more intense. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself down, even though her blood still pounded in her veins. “The detective of the town can’t move away for weeks or months or however long it will take for us to bring this murderer to justice.”</p><p>               “She’s right, Adam,” Nate said, his voice soft. He put a hand on the team leader’s shoulder. “It will look suspicious—and Nina can take care of herself.”</p><p>               Nina nodded to Nate with gratitude.</p><p>               But Adam wasn’t convinced. His lips curled into a barely covered sneer as his eyes met Nina’s across the short space between them. “I think we just proved that the detective cannot take care of herself.”</p><p>               At his words, Nina flinched. Her mouth open but falling short of any sound.</p><p>               Adam twisted away from her; arms crossed.</p><p>               A sigh escaped Nina’s lips and she turned away from the group. “I can’t do this right now.”</p><p>               “Then when?” Adam demanded. Nina still wouldn’t turn to face him—she couldn’t bare the look on his face that was awaiting her. Every bone in her body ached with weariness. “Will we have to wait until he succeeds? Until you’re dead? Will that be enough for you to take this seriously?”</p><p>               Nina choked on the air, shock filling her lungs instead of oxygen. Pressure built up behind her eyes but when she whirled around to face Adam, only rage remained in her dark eyes.</p><p>               “You know what, Adam?” Her voice was laced with venom. “Why do you even care? If he succeeds, then you won’t have to put up with me anymore! That’s what you really want, right?” She was almost hysterical. “Not being stuck with some human that just slows you down.”</p><p>               Adam flinched at her words. “That’s not—”</p><p>               “Spare me!” Now, she was yelling.</p><p>               Dozens of eyes turned in their direction as Nina’s voice reached new heights, most important of all were Rebecca’s. Nina’s mouth snapped shut. Her mother stared at the group with a furrowed brow, but Nina paid her no attention. She tried to ignore the blood boiling in her veins. How could he wipe away her tears one night and act like this another?</p><p>               Nina twisted away from the vampires.</p><p>               The Agency medics had arrived only minutes after they were called, alongside a clean-up crew and her own mother. Rebecca was off to another corner of the police station, ordering Agency agents around while they cleaned the glass and blood from the ground, getting ready to install a new window. The medics that surrounded her made sure she took some painkillers which made speaking and breathing a lot easier. It was now easier to be angry, too. The medic who tended to her told her that they would need to properly evaluate her back at the facility but that it was all they could do for now. There were red and purple bruises dotting her neck, and if it wasn’t for the painkillers, it would have hurt to speak. After that, they put some petroleum jelly around her wounds and the bruising, wrapping her neck gently with soft bandages. They even gave her after care instructions, but otherwise she would be okay.</p><p>               But it was hard to feel like that. Okay was a relative term in this world—it was something she would have to learn.</p><p>               In the meantime, Colin had been sequestered into a holding cell, still unconscious. An Agency medic made sure he was still alive and well; he also had told them that Colin would be ready for questioning soon.</p><p>               It was honestly a little mesmerising to watch them work—they were so brutally efficient.</p><p>               “Why don’t we question Colin first?” Nate suggested, obviously trying to calm the tension weighing heavy on Nina’s shoulders. It stung that Adam thought so little of her—especially after she had just been attacked. “After we find out what we can, we can revisit this debate.”</p><p>               Taking a deep, steadying breath, Nina turned back around to face the four vampires, pointedly ignoring Adam. “Good idea, Nate.”</p><p>               “Fine,” Adam said at the same time, his true tone hiding beneath a thin veneer of control.</p><p>               “Fantastic!” Nate clapped his hands together and led the team away from Nina’s almost repaired office downstairs to the holding cells. “We will all feel better once we can put our minds to something.”</p><p>               Nate led, with Adam close behind and Farah and Morgan trailing behind them. At the very end of the strange medley of companions, walked Nina, her shoulders hunched. She tried to ignore the ache in her throat that the painkillers hadn’t been able to fix as they descended the stairs, the chill from beneath the ground made Nina shiver.</p><p>               It felt like walking to the underworld.</p><p>               The holding cells downstairs were hardly ever used, mostly for vagrants and those deemed drunk and disorderly. Now, there was an attempted murderer sitting in one of the four custody suites available.</p><p>               Downstairs, there was a short, white and blue corridor with two plain white doors on each side, each door leading to a custody suite. The rooms all had a rather clinical feeling to them, like you were in a hospital waiting room rather than a police station. Each room was white and clean. Inside there was a simple bed, toilet, sink and water fountain. Normally, the people Nina and the officers of the station arrested would only stay the night, allowing them to sleep off whatever was in their system.</p><p>               However, now it was to sleep off a concussion. Because the man inside that suite had tried to kill her.</p><p>               Nina shuddered at the memory. His hands wrapping tighter and tighter until her vision went black. She could feel her breathing stop.</p><p>               “Are you going to be okay, Nina?” Nate’s voice interrupted her hazy thoughts. Nina was grateful for the interruption as she looked up at the tall vampire with a shaky smile.</p><p>               “I will be, thanks.” Nina’s smile remained in place as she replied. Inhaling a deep breath, she turned the handle of the door to the custody suite Colin was in and opened the door. “Let’s just get this over with.”</p><p>               As the door opened, Nina took in the sight of Colin sitting on the side of the bed in the room, his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. Nina’s heart lurched uncomfortably at the sight. He looked so… beaten. She brushed the thought away with a shake of her head, but the feeling of remorse remained deep in her bones.</p><p>               Colin didn’t even look up from his hands as the vampires followed Nina inside and filed into the room, not enough space in the suite to spread around like Unit Bravo usually did.</p><p>               Finally, Adam broke the silence and cleared his throat. Always the professional agent, Adam said, “We are Unit Bravo and we are here to question you.”</p><p>               There was barely a response from Colin, who shook his head almost imperceptibly, his ginger curls shaking with the motion. Defeated. It was the only way to describe him.</p><p>               Not exactly the demeanour of a ruthless killer.</p><p>               Nina stepped closer towards him, her shoulders tense. There was a twinge of fear shaking in her voice as she spoke. “Colin, we need to know why you did what you did.”</p><p>               There was no response for a long time.</p><p>               When Colin finally moved, Nina flinched. His head rose from his hands and he stared at Nina with wet blue eyes, his cheeks red and tear stained. Nina swallowed hard, trying not to let the sight shake her.</p><p>               “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” his words were barely above a whisper. But the cynicism filling his voice was loud and clear.</p><p>               Nina turned her gaze away from Colin and glanced around at the vampires, all of them wearing unreadable expressions. She looked back to the crumpled man in front of her and tried to muster an encouraging smile.</p><p>               “Try us,” she said. “We’re very open-minded.”</p><p>               Colin’s eyes never left her face, they seemed empty and glazed over. “He told me that he would bring him back. That if I made the detective of Wayhaven suffer, that if I told her about this Eve person, that if I told her about the warning then he would bring him back.”</p><p>               Unit Bravo exchanged wary glances at the revelation. Nina sucked in a breath, her hands trembling despite herself. Why was this man determined to make her a target?</p><p>               “Bring back who?” It was Nate who asked the question, stepping up beside Nina as he did. It was comforting to have the tall vampire beside her—at least there was no way for Colin to attack if his vulnerable and broken demeanour was just a lie. Though, in her gut, she knew this was no act.</p><p>               “His name was Stefan.” Colin choked back a sob. “He was the man I loved. He died in a car crash a year ago.”</p><p>               As terrified and hurt as she was, still, Nina’s heart couldn’t help but break for the man in front of her. She almost reached out to comfort him.</p><p>               “I’m sorry,” she whispered.</p><p>               But Colin must have barely heard her because he didn’t react, his head falling back into his hands.</p><p>               “We must know who promised you this,” Adam commanded, his voice sharp and cold against the contrast of her and Nate’s soft tones. “And why this man is intent on making the detective suffer.”</p><p>               Even though she wasn’t facing the team leader, she could feel his eyes burning into the back of her head.</p><p>               Nina crossed her arms her sternum.</p><p>               “You don’t understand,” Colin said. He looked up at the group in front of him again, his eyes shadowed by darkness. There was something unnerving in the empty look on his face. “He wasn’t human.”</p><p>               Every muscle in Nina’s body tensed. “What was he?”</p><p>               “A raven,” Colin answered quietly. “He was a raven.”</p><p>               Silence fell upon the room.</p><p>               Nina felt her heart plummet to the bottom of her stomach.</p><p>               “I knew you wouldn’t believe me,” Colin muttered, his face falling into his hands again.</p><p>               Finally, Adam broke the silence. “What did he say to you? What is his name? What does he want?”</p><p>               Colin looked up at the team leader with disbelief. “You believe me?”</p><p>               Adam turned his head, lips thin. “Answer the questions.”</p><p>               “I don’t know his name,” Colin said finally, looking defeated by Adam’s cold exterior. “I only know what he told me. That he killed this girl Eve, that he wanted to send the detective a warning… Other than that, I don’t know.”</p><p>               “Well, that’s helpful,” Farah quipped from where she stood by the door.</p><p>               Nate ignored her. “And this raven, it spoke to you in English? How did it appear? Anything odd about it?”</p><p>               “I—uh, yeah,” Colin started, shaking his head as if it was difficult to remember. “It was a normal raven. But he had an accent and he wanted me… He wanted me to tell the detective something.”</p><p>               “What was it?” Adam demanded.</p><p>               “It was in a foreign language,” Colin admitted, looking ashamed. “I can’t remember all of it. He only said it only, but I think a part of it went something along the lines of <em>þú est minn</em>.”</p><p>               Nina had never heard that language before, especially in the butchered way Colin spoke it. But it seemed to be enough for Adam, who turned away from the snivelling ginger man on the bed and headed for the door. The sudden action almost made Nina flinch as he brushed against her on his way out, the mere touch sparking electricity between them.</p><p>               “We have what we need,” he commanded, opening the door. “No need to waste any more time.”</p><p>               “Okay, well, can someone tell me what it is that we have?” Farah asked, heading for the door after Adam. “Because I’m worried you’ve lost your marbles, oh mighty leader.”</p><p>               Adam growled in response but didn’t deign to reply, instead storming through the threshold, shaking the foundations of the station as his heavy footsteps disappeared up the stairs. Nina sighed, glancing at the others. Morgan was already gone after Adam. When they met eyes, Farah shrugged at her and winked, following closely behind.</p><p>               It was just her and Nate now outside Colin’s custody suite. None of the tension in Nina’s body had released, instead it seemed to tighten until every muscle in her body ached. The information they had just been given by Colin did nothing to ease her mind either. Someone was out there. And they wanted to make her suffer.</p><p>               Nina took a shuddering breath.</p><p>               “Are you okay?” Nate asked, his face scrunched into one of worry. His hands were in the pockets of his jeans, his brows furrowed. The sight of made her want to smile, but the anxiety eating away at her refused to let it pass.</p><p>               Her eyes fell down the corridor, examining the clean, clinical appearance with more focus than usual.</p><p>               “Honestly?” she said, sighing. “I don’t know. Don’t tell the others but…” Nina paused, swallowing. “I’m afraid.”</p><p>               Nate put a hand on her shoulder, the touch instantly warming the pit in her stomach. “You know we’re all here for you, right? You’re part of our team now, Nina, and if you ever need me, I’ll be here.”</p><p>               Nina placed her own hand over the top of Nate’s on her shoulder in gratitude. “Thank you, Nate,” she whispered, only now truly feeling the exhaustion she has been hiding the past few days. “That means more than you know,” she added, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.</p><p>               Nate’s warm brown eyes sparkled even in the white, clinical light of the holding corridor. “We will get through this together, no matter what.”</p><p>               “I wish the others felt the same way you do,” Nina admitted, her gaze cast to the floor.</p><p>               “Adam is just worried,” Nate explained, seemingly knowing exactly what she had been referring to when she said that. He tried to meet her eyes. “But he is not very good at showing that. I think the fact that he cannot protect you scares him more than anything.”</p><p>               Nina’s heart fluttered in response to Nate’s admission. In her head, she knew she should have been annoyed and offended at Adam’s earlier outburst. But in her heart, there was a small, flickering flame of hope that he was as afraid of losing her as she was afraid of losing him.</p><p>               A small flame that edged her to want more.</p><p>               She remembered the way Adam had looked in the hazy, dim light of his room as he lay in his bed, wrapped in bandages. His body was bruised and bloodied, his eyes the softest she had ever seen them. Nina’s heart had stopped in her chest when she thought he might have died in those tunnels. Seeing him there, alive and breathing and still stunning despite the injuries; it had sent a shockwave of relief through her body like she had never felt before.</p><p>               She remembered his words. <em>Tu omnia</em>.</p><p>               Nina had never been brave enough to ask what they meant. But maybe now she could.</p><p>               “Nate, you speak pretty much every language in the world, right?” Nina asked, her heart hammering against her ribs.</p><p>               Nate laughed in response. “Not every language, no. But quite a few, why?”</p><p>               “What does ‘tu omnia’ mean?” Her voice was filled with fear and anticipation.</p><p>               Nate’s lips quirked up in a peculiar kind of smile.</p><p>               “You are everything,” he translated.</p><p>               Nina’s breath stuttered to a stop in her lungs. Every atom in her body yearned to go back to that memory with the knowledge she had now. Her gaze naturally fell towards the staircase to the top of the station where Adam had just disappeared, and she couldn’t help but smile.</p><p>               “Can I ask why you needed that translated?” Nate asked, his hands back in his pockets.</p><p>               “No reason,” Nina replied, still smiling. Somehow, she knew that her smile wouldn’t leave for the rest of the day. “Come on,” she added, gesturing to the stairs, “we should get back to the others.”</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Old Friends and Old Aches</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>An old friend visits Nina. Fear finally knocks on Adam's door.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i'm sorry it was late when i published this and i haven't proof-read. i struggled with this chapter for days and just wanted to publish it asap but i will make some edits to the grammar and layout later. thank you for your patience.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               The lightbulb in her bathroom flickered as Nina tugged on the string switch, illuminating the small space with swaths of shadows. An involuntary sigh escaped Nina’s lips as she twisted the taps in her sink and splashed the cold water over her face. The icy water made her gasp. Instantly, the water seemed to reinvigorate her. Blinking, she wiped her face with her fresh, cotton towel on the rung beside the sink.</p><p>               The bathroom was simple and tidy, exactly how she liked it. Everything had its place here, right down to the shower caddy glued to her bath wall and Crumbs’ litter box beside the toilet. The cabinet above her sink had a clear, long mirror on its door, reflecting the rest of the space behind her, the pale pink accents and the cupboard that hid the water boiler. Everything brought a rush of comfort and safety she just didn’t feel at the Warehouse. This was her space, and only hers.</p><p>               In the end, Nina managed to convince Unit Bravo and Rebecca that she was perfectly safe and capable staying in her own home. Although she wasn’t sure that was as convincing to them as the prospect of raising suspicions in the town—that was one thing the Agency wouldn’t allow. No one could know.</p><p>               Nina’s mind flashed with Tina’s brown eyes and she looked down at the towel in her hands. She tried to push the image to the back of her mind.</p><p>               Adam had been the last to relent. It had taken Rebecca ordering him to stand down until he finally did. Nina wasn’t sure whether that was meant to make her smile or cause offense. But it was definitely a boost to her morale knowing just exactly what Adam had told her those three weeks past. It made her smile when she had felt her worse today. Maybe… there was hope. Just a sliver. But it was there, blooming in her chest like a new blossom.</p><p>               When she looked back up to her image in the mirror staring back at her, a lump formed in her stomach.</p><p>               There was a string of bruises dotting her neck like a purple and blue pearl necklace. Another reminder of the day’s horrors. Nina tried to shake the thoughts out of her mind, but they refused to leave her, wrapping themselves around her throat like Colin’s hands had. She struggled for breath, her palms flying out and gripping the ceramic sink to hold herself up. Dark brown tangles fell around her and obscured her view as she tried to steady her heart. Nina let her eyelids flutter closed as she forced herself to calm.</p><p><em>               Deep breath in, deep breath out</em>.</p><p>               A soft, quiet meow made the thoughts choking her release their grip. Nina opened her eyes and smiled, glancing to the side to see Crumbs at the threshold of her bathroom, his fluffy white tail swishing in the air behind him. When Nina’s gaze fell on him, he meowed again, this time louder. The young detective couldn’t help the smile completely overtaking her as she bent down to give Crumbs the attention he wanted. Almost instantly, he fell to the floor at her touch in pleasure and revealed his fluffy belly. Nina obliged, petting down his fur. Crumbs purred, his eyes falling shut.</p><p>               “Okay, okay,” Nina said, laughing as she took her hand off Crumbs’ belly, “no more petting until I’m finished in here.”</p><p>               As Nina rose to stand up, Crumbs flipped back onto all fours and swatted at her hand. Nina cradled the petty injury with another laugh. “You little brat,” she muttered, knowing he couldn’t have cared less at her chiding even if he understood her.</p><p>               Still, it seemed Crumbs understood. The wily cat turned his back and sauntered out of the bathroom, his tail still swishing behind him. Nina shook her head with a fond smile and turned back to her finish her night-time routine.</p><p>               But when she turned back to the sink, there was a flash of white in the mirrored reflection. Nina dropped the toothbrush she had just picked up, her eyes flying wildly to her window as the image seemed to glide along the reflective surfaces. Her mind raced with the possibilities, her heart hammering in her chest.</p><p>               Another flash of blue and white zipped past in the shimmering glass of the windows above the bath. </p><p>               “Falk?” Nina called out, her voice shaking. “Falk is that you?”</p><p>               Silence.</p><p>               The movement she had seen stopped. It was just Nina, standing alone in the middle of her bathroom. Hope crushing her ribs against her lungs. Disappointment dripped from her very being as her shoulders hunched, a sigh escaping her lips.</p><p>               Nina picked up her toothbrush, turning the tap back on. Just as she ran it under the steady stream of water and began the process of brushing her teeth, her eyes raised to the mirror in front of her and she almost spit the toothpaste out onto the mirror.</p><p>               Obsidian eyes stared back at her.</p><p>               A smile overtook Nina’s previous disappointment, lifting her shoulders. “Falk!”</p><p>               The man in the mirror seemed just as glad to see her, his own lips curling into a smile. His eyes shone brightly in the yellow light of the bathroom; the sharp edges of his face seemed to soften as he took her in.</p><p>               “It is good to see you again,” Falk said finally.</p><p>               With that, he took his own invitation and stepped through the mirror, his body shimmering and blending with the bathroom for a split second before it materialised fully in front of Nina.</p><p>               Falk wore a dark blue shirt, with ruffles and a tall collar lined with gold, just as fancy as he usually dressed. His white, long mowak was styled back against his shoulders, revealing only one shaved side. Suddenly, Nina felt very out of place in her striped, colourful tank top and yellow shorts, the bunny slippers on her feet staring back at her in utter shame.</p><p>               Nina resisted the urge to throw her arms around him and pull him into a hug. The relief at seeing him almost spilled out of her. Instead, she wrapped her arms around herself and her smile widened into a grin.</p><p>               “What are you doing here?” she asked, then almost face-palmed herself. “Not that I’m not happy to see you. It’s a much-needed pick-me-up after the day I’ve had.”</p><p>               Falk’s eyes travelled the length of Nina’s body, then he nodded. “Yes, I heard. It is why I had to come.” The maa-alused leader paused. “I wanted to ensure you were safe.” His lips lifted into a smile again. “I did not mean for you to see me, but it seems I had forgotten just how perceptive you are.”</p><p>               Nina didn’t tell him how that was mostly because of how much she hoped against hope that Falk has been looking out for her this whole time.</p><p>               Instead, she grinned and shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a detective for a reason.”</p><p>               “Indeed.”</p><p>               “Anyway, how about you come in for some tea?” Nina pursed her lips, hazel eyes scanning over Falk, the man desperately out of place in her ordinary, small bathroom. “Or whatever it is you like? I made muffins,” she added hastily.</p><p>               Falk’s lips twitched at the corners. “Very well. I will try these… muffins.”</p><p>               Nina’s face burst into a wide grin and she led the way out of her bathroom to the kitchen, just a few short steps away. Right outside the kitchen, Crumbs lay on the couch in the living room and hardly raised his head as Nina and Falk approached. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the maa-alused leader examining her cat with curiosity. Crumbs mirrored none of the same excitement at the new person in his home.</p><p>               “Sit down and relax, I’ll grab what we need,” Nina said, indicating for Falk to sit on the plush couch.</p><p>               Falk looked uncertain at the prospect, but relented and sunk into the soft cushions, making Crumbs hiss.</p><p>               With a suppressed chuckle, Nina turned away from the sight to cater for her guest. Switching the light on in the kitchen, she reached directly for the muffins which awaited her in the pantry. She popped her creations onto a small, porcelain plate with deep pink accents and made her way back to the living room where Falk observed Crumbs with great intent.</p><p>               The detective laid the plate of muffins on the coffee table in front of Falk and sat down beside him. She tried to hide her yawn as she turned to Falk. There was a tight knot in the top of her back, and she slouched further into the cushions. It seemed that despite the late-night excitement, her body was still reeling from the events of the day. A small sigh escaped her lips despite herself.</p><p>               “So,” Nina started, pushing her thoughts to the back of her mind, “what do you think?”</p><p>               Falk had picked up one of blueberry muffins on the plate and tasted it gingerly. There was an unreadable look on his face as if processing all of the flavour and textures. “It is…” Falk trailed off, taking another bite. “Sweet. Soft. I like it. You must let me take some back to Sanja.”</p><p>               A relieved smile crossed Nina’s lips in response. “Of course! I bake a lot, so I’ll pack you the rest of those I have left.” The smile refused to leave Nina’s lips. “I’m glad to see you enjoy them.”</p><p>               “Thank you. But I expect that despite my hopes this is not why you invited me to your home so late?” There was an amused tilt to the corners of Falk’s lips, suggestion in the arch of his eyebrow.</p><p>               Heat spread across Nina’s cheeks.</p><p>               She chuckled nervously. “No, although I would love to see you again. Under less dire circumstances maybe.”</p><p>               “You won’t have to work very hard to convince me of that.” Falk almost smirked, looking up at her through his thick, dark eyelashes. Then his expression shifted, his eyebrows furrowing.  “But what is it you worry about?”</p><p>               Nina hesitated, wringing her hands in her lap. “I was wondering whether the maa-alused or Sanja have ever heard of a supernatural creature in the form of a raven that can speak normally to people?”</p><p>               “Hmm,” Falk paused, one long, taloned-finger tapping against his sculpted cheekbone, “is there anything else that you know of this creature?”</p><p>               Again, Nina let silence envelop the room before she answered, her heart clenching in her chest. “The man who attacked me… he said that the raven promised to bring back his dead love if he gave me a message.”</p><p>               “Interesting,” Falk said, seeming to mull the information over. “There were similar such creatures in my home world. Feathered men with beaks that would do anything you asked if one only made an oath—not true birds, yet not men either. I do not know their names but perhaps Sanja will know. If these creatures have bled over into your world, I fear the worst. They do not take kindly to those who break their oaths.”</p><p>               The words echoed in Nina’s head, her heart hammering in her chest hard enough to awaken any tired bones. “Let’s hope that this isn’t them, then.”</p><p>               “Yes,” Falk agreed, but one thing Nina had learned over the time she had known him is that he was dreadful at hiding his true feelings. And Nina could see it. Fear brightly lit up in the obsidian of his eyes. “It would be most unfortunate if they were free in this world.”</p><p>               Nina swallowed hard. “I’m sure the Agency must have some files on them if they aren’t recent arrivals.”</p><p>               “I will speak with Sanja and return with any information she has,” Falk continued, not acknowledging Nina’s words. His eyes flitted over Nina’s face with concern and he lifted a taloned hand to her cheek, caressing it gently. The breath in Nina’s chest stuttered to a stop. She let her eyelids fall shut. “Be careful, Nina. These creatures are… cursed. Unnatural.”</p><p>               When Nina let her eyes open again, Falk was smiling ever so slightly.</p><p>               Nina mirrored his expression. “Ah, I wouldn’t worry,” she said, forced amusement in her voice, “I seem to have a knack for surviving even when others are trying their hardest to kill me.”</p><p>               The smile on Falk’s lips didn’t reach his eyes as he retracted his hand from her face. “I should go—”</p><p>               Before Falk could finish his sentence, Nina reached for him. Her fingers wrapped around his wrist. There a brief second where surprise overtook his features, but he quickly sunk back into the couch.</p><p>               Hesitantly, Nina released her grip on Falk, cheeks hot. There was a lump in her throat. She ducked her head and stared at her hands in her lap, fidgeting with the hem of her yellow shorts.</p><p>               “Perhaps, I will stay,” Falk said, as soon as it became clear Nina wouldn’t speak.</p><p>               Nina refused to meet Falk’s eye as she looked up, though she breathed a sigh of relief as the weight lifted off her shoulders. “If you’re sure.”</p><p>               “But you should still rest,” Falk said, his voice surprisingly alluring. Nina’s head filled with cotton at the sound. “There is much to do, Nina,” he added, words barely above a whisper now. Falk’s voice sounded far away and muted, and Nina’s eyelids grew heavy. It was as if sleep was beginning to wrap itself gently around her mind. Her shoulders slumped, the darkness creeping in from the edges of her vision. There was a</p><p>               Nina reached out a hand towards Falk and everything went black.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>               Sunlight streamed through the blinds pulled haphazardly across the windows, flooding the room with stripes of blinding light. A streak of sunlight burned onto Nina on the bed and she blinked, raising a hand to hide her face from the incoming brightness. A frown drew itself back into her features as she rose from the couch she laid on, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. One look around the empty living room told her that she was alone. Memories of the night before flooded her senses as the realisation that Falk had sent her into a deep sleep before leaving made its home heavy in her chest.</p><p><em>At least he showed</em>, Nina thought, trying not to let the feeling sink her further into the cushions, <em>at least he wanted to help</em>.</p><p>               Without giving herself time to talk herself back into bed, Nina threw off the blanket she lay under—she couldn’t help the flutter in her stomach knowing Falk had wrapped her in it—and stretched to her full height, rolling out the aches in her joints from a night on the couch. Crumbs lay on the armchair beside the couch as if he had never moved, still fast asleep.</p><p>               Nina rubbed her palms over her face, trying to awaken her mind. It was as if whatever magic Falk had used last night hadn’t fully dissipated yet. She absentmindedly glanced at her phone to check the time as she approached the bathroom to get ready for work.          </p><p>               Nina’s eyes almost bulged out of her head as the screen revealed the time.</p><p>               11 AM. 8 missed calls. 5 unread text messages.</p><p>               <em>Shit</em>.</p><p>               She was late.</p><p>               It took a minute for the realisation to sink in—that she had a meeting with Unit Bravo at 8 this morning and was supposed to have been working at the Warehouse all day.</p><p>               Then the adrenaline sunk in and Nina whirled around the apartment, trying to make herself up for the day. She examined her phone’s log as she shoved a black turtleneck over her head. Four calls from Rebecca, three from Farah (though she doubted those were work related), and surprisingly, one from Adam. The sight of his name in her phone made her heart somersault.</p><p>               There were texts too, mostly from Farah begging her to show up so she wouldn’t be alone. They would have made Nina laugh if she didn’t have a dry mouth at the prospect of getting an earful from both Rebecca and Adam about her responsibilities.</p><p>               Nina gulped, sent a quick ‘<em>I’m sorry I’m late, I’ll explain when I arrive, be there soon’</em> text to Rebecca and hurried through her morning routine, remembering to feed Crumbs before she ran out the door, wet hair swinging behind her.</p><p>               After a quick 15-minute drive, Nina finally arrived at the Warehouse. She made sure to run to the empty façade and quickly jump into the elevator that took her underground.</p><p>               Panting and sweating, with her wet fringe sticking to her forehead, Nina almost fell to the ground as she collided with something that felt much like a brick wall storming towards her.</p><p>               Nina quickly rushed to apologise and as she looked up to her victim, she swallowed hard.</p><p>               Adam stood before her, his hands folded behind his back, shoulders squared. Today, he wore a tight grey t-shirt and cargo trousers tucked neatly into combat boots. It was more difficult than she hoped to rip her eyes away from his tense muscles visible underneath the t-shirt. Similarly, it was difficult not to feel self-conscious with her hair still dripping onto her shoulders, staining her clothes. She must have looked a mess.</p><p>               “Detective.” Adam nodded; a disapproving glare blazed in his green eyes as he remained unwavering underneath her gaze. “I see not only are you flagrantly irresponsible towards your duties as a detective and liaison of the Agency, but you also have no regard to contact those concerned for your safety despite being under threat.”</p><p>               Nina turned to defend herself, then a hope sparked in her chest. “You were concerned?”</p><p>               Adam ripped his eyes away from her. “We all were. You are part of this team. Despite your clear lack of care for any of us,” he added, his voice hitching on the last words as if he had meant to say something else.</p><p>               That made Nina look away, an uncomfortable ache bubbling in her stomach.</p><p>               “I do care, Adam,” she said finally, her words a whisper. She looked back up to the stoic face of the team leader and noticed the hard look in his green eyes had softened ever so slightly. “I care more than you know.”</p><p>               Adam looked away from her, crossing his arms across his chest. A frown overtook his features, and he stared with great focus at the chipped green door beside them.</p><p>               “You should not,” was all Adam said.</p><p>               Nina tried not to look disappointed, though his dismissiveness felt like someone had punched her in the gut.</p><p>               A lump formed in her throat and she tried to swallow it down.</p><p>“Why not?” she breathed.</p><p>               Eventually, Adam turned back to her, his eyes scanning over her slowly with purposeful glances. He lifted a hand toward her, reaching up to her face but quickly snapped it back to his side, his fist clenched.</p><p>               “It will be safer for you,” he answered, his voice just as quiet as hers was. “And me.”</p><p>               It seemed the last two words weren’t meant for her ears because Adam twisted away from her so quickly, she couldn’t even see the movement. Her head spun, heart aching. Nina’s fingers twitched at her side as if being unable to bear not touching him. It was as if a magnetic force was pulling her towards him—she wasn’t able to stop herself from walking the short few steps to reach him.</p><p>               From this close, his scent engulfed her, heady and overpowering. Blood pounded in her ears.</p><p>               “I’m not afraid,” Nina declared stubbornly, letting her hand reach out towards him. Adam let himself be turned around to face her. For the first time since she had known him there was fear glistening brightly in the green of his eyes. His hands were clenched in front of him, almost shaking. “I know you. I trust you.”</p><p>               The hand that was on Adam’s arm moved to his chest, her fingers spreading over him softly. Nina reached up with her other hand and trailed her fingers lightly over Adam’s sculpted cheek, just barely grazing his skin. She could feel him flinch beneath her touch.</p><p>               Adam’s throat moved as he swallowed hard. His eyes flashed to her lips.</p><p>               “Nina,” he whispered her name and Nina heard it as if for the first time, sending shivers down her spine. Her skin erupted in goosebumps. She felt his hands hover above her hips, making her long for him to take her. Adam’s voice was barely audible, his eyes briefly fluttered shut. When they opened again, his next word knocked her back, “Don’t.”</p><p>               There was a metallic taste in Nina’s mouth as she hesitantly removed her hand from Adam’s chest, her fingers dropping from his face, her eyes falling to the floor. She tried to think through her heartbeat pounding in her ears, deafening her to anything but the throbbing nausea in the pit of her stomach.</p><p>               Nina cleared her throat.</p><p>               “Let’s find the others then,” she said finally, changing the subject. She couldn’t hear her own voice in her ears. “I have some new information.”</p><p>               Finally, Adam glanced at her and gave a sharp nod. “Very well, let’s go.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Progress</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Some progress is made in the case and emotions rule the day.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i didn't proof read or edit because i'm lazy. i'm sorry.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               “Finally,” the words were out of Rebecca’s perfectly painted lips as soon as Nina and Adam entered the Warehouse meeting room, “Nina, I was worried.”</p><p>               “I know,” Nina said, her gaze almost magnetically drawn towards Adam beside her, “I’m sorry, but I have a pretty good excuse. I learned more about our mystery killer,” she added, earning looks of surprise from her mother and the rest of Unit Bravo.</p><p>               “You have?” Nate was the first to speak, smiling at her softly from one of the comfortable armchairs in the room. “That’s great! What did you learn?”</p><p>               Taking it as her cue, Nina entered the room fully and took her own seat by the windows, happy to let the sun soak her in warmth in an attempt to get her hair to dry faster. Adam closed the door behind them and took up position by the windows as well, his back to the room, eyes focused with extreme intensity on the view overlooking the empty site outside the Warehouse. Nina shivered from the sheer intensity of his presence beside her—she could feel him pressed up against her without a single touch.</p><p>               She tried to push the lingering thoughts out of her mind, even if it became increasingly difficult the more time she spent with the man.</p><p>               Nina took a deep breath and cleared her throat. “I still don’t know what type of creature he might be, but I think it will certainly narrow down our search.”</p><p>               “Brilliant!” Nate exclaimed, a true smile lighting up his face.</p><p>               “My, my, Nin,” Farah said, her full, pink lips stretching into a grin, “what ever would we do without you?”</p><p>               Nina chuckled at the youngest agent.</p><p>               “Oh, I don’t know, crash and burn?” she rolled her head around to glance at Farah, smirking.</p><p>               Farah let out a laugh loud enough to make Morgan flinch. “<em>Please</em> come around more often!”</p><p>               The other agent hidden amongst the shadows of the farthest corner of the room scowled, her entire body almost folding in on itself, as if the volume of Farah’s voice was assaulting her. Nina guessed it must have felt very similar to that. But surprisingly, Morgan examined her briefly where she sat and nodded, seeming satisfied with her assessment.</p><p>               Nina didn’t have much time to think over the strange reaction</p><p>               “Most amusing, detective,” sounded Adam’s voice from beside her. The team leader’s hands were folded behind his back and he continued to gaze out of the window with a hard stare. “But we were very successful before you joined our team.”</p><p>               “Clearly not as successful as you could be, seeing as you haven’t surpassed Unit Alpha yet.” Almost as soon as the words left her lips Nina regretted them. Her mouth snapped shut and she immediately turned her head away from Adam. She could feel his burning eyes on the back of her head.</p><p>               “Oh, <em>shit</em>!” Farah exclaimed, bursting into giggles. “Do you need some aloe vera for that burn Adam?”</p><p>               On the other side of the room, Morgan let out a snicker, hiding it behind a new cigarette.</p><p>               Nina cringed internally. There was no reason to act like this towards him, it was unkind, and it was unlike her—and it definitely had nothing to do with the fact that Adam had all but begged her to leave him alone just minutes ago. She tried to ignore the feeling of a twist of the knife in her stomach as she glanced at the team leader.</p><p>               Adam was bristling, ready for a fight. Hackles raised, he looked like an angry dog. Although behind the rage, Nina saw a tinge of pain in the lines of his face, the way he refused to look at her, the furrow of his brow.</p><p>               Nate winced at the tense scene around him. “Now, let’s all take a deep breath and—"</p><p>               Adam’s growl interrupted Nate’s pacifying words. “No, by all means the detective should speak her mind. If she wishes to undermine and attack her own team, maybe she does not belong here.”</p><p>               On instinct, Nina wanted to defend herself, but her lips closed almost as soon as they opened<em>. I deserved that one</em>, she thought resentfully.</p><p>               “Enough!” Rebecca commanded, rushing to her feet from her chair. Warning flared in her eyes as she stared over the team, focusing each member individually with icy disapproval. “We are professionals and we will act like it.”</p><p>               Each member of Unit Bravo looked properly chastised—even Nina slunk back into her armchair, shoulders hunching. Adam twisted back around to face the window once more, crossing his arms across his chest. Morgan skulked back into her corner; Nate looked down at his hands. Even Farah stopped swinging her legs over the armchair she was sprawled out on.</p><p>               Once Rebecca was satisfied that everyone would behave, she nodded firmly and sat down again.</p><p>               “What did you discover, Nina?” Rebecca’s voice brought her back down to reality, her tone entirely professional and cool. Her crisp, pressed suit crinkled as she moved her legs to cross them over one another, clasping her hands in her lap, back pin straight. “We must verify this information as soon as possible.”</p><p>               Nina resisted the urge to roll her eyes.</p><p>               Unit Bravo turned to her in expectation.</p><p>               “Right,” Nina said, avoiding looking at any of them, “our killer might be a species of cursed men from the Echo World. They are half-bird, half-men who force others to make oaths in order to do their bidding in exchange for anything the person might desire.” She paused, biting her lip. Her head filled with thoughts of Colin. “Apparently, they don’t take kindly to those that break them.”</p><p>               “Fascinating,” Nate said thoughtfully, thumb massaging over his chin. “This would make sense with what we discovered during the interrogation and what Adam found.”</p><p>               At the mention of his name, Nina twisted around to look at the team leader to find him already staring at her. He shifted as their gazes locked and nodded at Nate. “Yes, we should begin our research immediately.”</p><p>               “What did you find out?” Nina asked, sensing that no one would elaborate.</p><p>               Adam bristled at the question. “What the raven had told the attacker,” he explained coolly. “It was Old Norse. He said: ‘you are mine’.” His voice hitched at the words, as if there was a deeper meaning Nina couldn’t understand.</p><p>               She frowned, her brain already racing with the worst of the possibilities. There was an empty, growing pit at the bottom of her stomach, threatening to swallow her whole. “I see I’m quite popular among supernatural killers,” she tried to joke, but her smile felt uncomfortable on her lips.</p><p>               “It must be connected to your blood,” Rebecca said, her brows furrowed as she examined Nina’s hunched figure. “We must catch him as quickly as possible.”</p><p>               “What you said about the cursed supernaturals from the Echo World,” Nate started, his brain clearly whirling at a hundred miles an hour, “it made me think. I have read about similar supernaturals in the writings of Jacob Grimm. He called them ‘walahraban’. Grimm compared them to Danish trolds—he called them the wild ravens.”</p><p>               “Fantastic work, Nate,” Rebecca beamed proudly. “You should start your research there. Work backwards, try to track Grimm’s work into something more specific.”</p><p>               “Yes, I think we should start with Norse mythology if the raven indeed spoke Old Norse,” Nate explained. “But Grimm will prove a useful ally in tracking the origins through human history.”</p><p>               Adam nodded, folding his hands behind his back. “We should check the Agency database for any knowledge of such supernaturals as well. There might have been contact made in the past few centuries.”</p><p>               Rebecca stood up, clasping her hands together. There was real emotion behind the professional mask she wore while she stood and watched the team.</p><p>               “It looks like you have your work cut out for you,” she stated, picking up her briefcase. “Do keep in contact.”</p><p>               As Rebecca left with one last final, lingering gaze at Nina, the team jumped to their feet as well.</p><p>               “So…” Farah started, letting the word hang in the air, eyebrows waggling as she twisted around to face Nina. “How did you come by this information? If you don’t mind my asking.”</p><p>               Nina shifted uncomfortably under the youngest agent’s amber stare, gleaming in the afternoon sun. All of a sudden, she was extremely aware of Adam’s presence beside her as the whole team focused on her.</p><p>               “Falk came to visit me last night,” she explained quietly.</p><p>               Adam clenched his fists, almost shaking.</p><p>               “What?” he demanded, barely contained rage in his voice. “Why didn’t you call me—us? Why didn’t you call us? You could have got hurt. He could’ve defected to the Trappers. How could you be this reckless?”</p><p>               “Adam, it’s okay,” Nina said, trying to stay calm. “Falk is my friend. He was the one who gave me the information on these birdmen. He helped me.”</p><p>               “And I’m sure a friendship is all he has in mind when he’s showing up at your apartment late at night,” Morgan snorted. “Definitely not something sweatier, hot—"</p><p>               A loud ‘<em>crack’ </em>reverberated throughout the room, cutting Morgan off mid-sentence.</p><p>               All heads turned in the direction of the noise.</p><p>               On the ground by an antique, carved wooden side table, a vase of flowers lay in smithereens on the hardwood floor. Shards of marble mixed in with rivulets of water that pooled in the floorboards, beautiful tulips torn lay dying by the marble pieces.</p><p>               Nina winced.</p><p>               Adam stood by the heap of broken shards and flowers, his back impossibly taut and straight. Every muscle in his body was tense and unmoving as he grimaced at the mess he’d made.</p><p>               “Adam!” Nate exclaimed, disappearing in a flash and reappearing beside the broken vase and flowers. The tallest vampire bent down to start cleaning up, a forlorn look etched into his usually gentle features. Nina joined him almost immediately to help.</p><p>               “I apologise,” Adam grunted, joining Nate and Nina in picking up the pieces. “I will replace it.”</p><p>               “That was a vase from the 17<sup>th</sup> century!” Nate responded, outraged at the offer from Adam. “It is totally irreplaceable,” he added sadly.</p><p>               “So now you’re not only breaking poor Nin’s things, our ole’ Natey is suffering too,” Farah commented, tsk-ing at Adam as she approached.</p><p>               The team leader growled in response, but Farah only grinned brightly.</p><p>               “If there were no inane decorations in places of work then they would not be broken,” Adam stated, his lips a thin line.</p><p>               “Is it so bad to want our new permanent home to look like an actual, welcoming place to live?” Nate asked, his tone almost pleading.</p><p>               Instant regret pooled in Adam’s eyes. “You’re right. I apologise.”</p><p>               A gasp echoed the room, Farah covering her mouth with her bright yellow scarf to stifle the surprise. “Two apologies in one day, wow,” she whistled a ‘whew’ as she exaggerated pondering on the topic. “You’re getting soft, oh mighty leader. I wonder why that is.”</p><p>               The youngest vampire turned her glittering, golden gaze to Nina. She couldn’t help the heat rise in her cheeks.</p><p>               “Farah,” Adam said in warning, his teeth gritted together. “Stop. Now.”</p><p>               Almost as if breaking the silent standoff between Farah and Adam, Nate sighed; his breath was as heavy as his voice. “Let’s just get this cleaned up and get to work. We need to stop this killer.”</p><p>               “Good idea,” Adam said, his voice as soft as Nina has ever heard it around the rest of Unit Bravo.</p><p>               Nina nudged Nate with her shoulder as the trio stood up with the marble pieces and torn flowers in their hands. “We can go around the vintage stores in Wayhaven after this is over if you’d like,” she suggested, sending a smile Nate’s way. “Get you a new, funky vase from the 70’s or another fancy antique.”</p><p>               A smile slowly crawled onto Nate’s lips as he considered the idea. “It’s a date.”</p><p>               Beside them, Adam seemed to choke on the air, and crushed the marble in his hands even further. Blood pooled in his clenched hands and trickled off his arms onto the floor.</p><p>               Nina tried to stifle a gasp, hurriedly setting what she was holding onto the table beside her.</p><p>               She rushed to Adam’s side.</p><p>               “Are you okay?” she asked, carefully and gently opening Adam’s clenched fists up with deft fingers. Surprisingly, Adam allowed it.</p><p>               “I’m fine,” Adam stated, but Nina couldn’t help but hear the crack in his voice as he did.</p><p>               Adam stood stiff and still as Nina worked her way through the big parts, which she set aside, and she slowly began to pick the small shards embedded in his hands. She worked so quickly and with such focus that she almost missed his breath hitch at their prolonged hand holding, but she dismissed the thought quickly as a reaction to pain.</p><p>               The rest of the team had moved aside, as if to let them have the privacy. Whatever for, Nina couldn’t guess. She tried to focus on the shards of marble and not the way Adam’s veins pulsed in his wrist or the smooth lines in his seemingly perfect hands. A side effect of vampirism, she thought, and yet she couldn’t help that they hid just as much pain as Adam’s mask did. The things those hands must have gone through and done—it was almost an insult there was no scars, no wear and tear, nothing to show for all of Adam’s accomplishments and pain.</p><p>               “You shouldn’t allow supernaturals into your home late at night when there’s a killer hunting you,” Adam started, but there was no force behind his words. Concern shined bright in the green of his eyes when Nina looked up at him. “I—You need to stay safe.”</p><p>               Nina swallowed down the butterflies in her stomach. “I know I do, believe me, but I trust Falk.” She paused with uncertainty, her hands hovering inches above Adam’s. “Can you trust me?”</p><p>               There was a long silence that hung between them, almost like a rope tied around her lungs. Adam gazed into Nina’s eyes, his green eyes filled with intensity and something else—something Nina couldn’t pinpoint. Then Adam did something unexpected—he caressed his thumb softly over one of Nina’s hands in calming circular motions.</p><p>               The words that left his lips were almost a whisper. “I trust you.”</p><p>               A smile grew on Nina’s lips without realising it—a true, genuine thing. Not a fake. It felt… odd. Good.</p><p>               “Thank you,” Nina whispered back, her voice almost cracking on the emotion that swept through her like a tornado.</p><p>               Adam nodded in response.</p><p>               Another silence passed by as Nina set back to work.</p><p>               Nina’s deft hands made quick work of the embedded pieces of marble. It helped that this wasn’t the first time she had to remove dangerous objects from her friends bodies—a side effect of a troubled childhood, she supposed.</p><p>               “There,” she said as she finished, reluctant to stop touching Adam’s skin, “all ready to heal now.”</p><p>               Adam swallowed hard, visible in his throat. “Thank you,” his voice was hoarse.</p><p>               Before the team leader stalked away from her, Nina let her fingers softly wrap around Adam’s wrist. “By the way, Nate and I… it’s not like that.” She paused; unsure she should even be saying this. Does he care? “We’re just friends.”</p><p>               Adam almost sprung away from her, ripping his wrist from her grip. It was only a second before he cleared his throat and turned to the rest of the team with a mask of iron covering his handsome features. “That doesn’t seem like something that should concern me, detective. You are free to conduct your personal affairs as you wish.”</p><p>               Adam was gone before Nina could even blink.</p><p>               A sigh almost escaped her before she collected her disappointment and shoved it deep down. It was difficult to ignore the moment they had just shared, but Nina tried her best. She and Nate picked up the rest of the mess and carefully disposed of it, as Adam began to question Morgan and Farah on their last patrol.</p><p>               By the time they were back to the meeting room, the rest of Unit Bravo seemed to have moved topic from the patrols. Nina tired to catch Adam’s eye despite herself, but he seemed intent on not looking at her.</p><p>               Pretending it didn’t hurt was difficult.</p><p>               “We will need to be on watch to protect the detective and catch the killer,” Adam stated icily, refusing to spare her a glance. “It reasons to believe that he would be keeping a close eye on her so as not to lose his prey.”</p><p>               The words sent a chill down Nina’s spine.</p><p>               “You have nothing to be worried about Nina,” Nate added, placing a hand on her shoulder.</p><p>               Nina barely heard him, but she nodded.</p><p>               “Thanks,” she mumbled, barely audible. Then, almost as if only realising she was in the middle of her team, she cleared her throat and straightened up, trying to build up her walls brick by brick. “With Unit Bravo on the case, how can I be worried?” She tried for a smirk, but she saw doubt in Nate’s deep brown eyes.</p><p>               “Exactly!” Farah exclaimed, her grin bright and cheery. She tried to catch Nina’s eyes as her head rolled around to look at her. “We’re gonna catch him in no time, then go for team building karaoke night.”</p><p>               Morgan groaned. “Not happening.”</p><p>               “Oh, come on, sour puss,” Farah said, sticking her tongue out at the smoking woman. “Nina?”</p><p>               “Oh yeah, I’m in,” Nina replied, feeling more comfortable with the fake smile on her face. “I live and die by karaoke. There’s even a great bar in town.”</p><p>               “It’s settled then!” Farah clapped her hands together with an air of finality.</p><p>               “Farah,” Adam growled in warning.</p><p>               “What?” she asked innocently. “It’s a team building exercise, I thought you’d be all about that.”</p><p>               Before Adam could respond, Nate stepped in, putting a hand on his old friend’s shoulder. “I think it will be good for us all to go out and bond over something a little less high stakes than a mission.”</p><p>               “Fine,” the word was gritted through clenched teeth, and Adam swung away from the team.</p><p>               Farah let out an excited ‘whoop!’.</p><p>               “But now, we need to focus on our mission,” Adam continued as if Farah had never uttered a word. His shoulders were tensed so hard they were almost shaking. “Nina and Nate will research in the library for information on the ravens, specifically their weaknesses and habits so we can draw him out.” He paused turning to Farah and Morgan. “You two will go and patrol Wayhaven, there cannot be    any more victims. Stay unnoticed but follow him and call if you do find him. Now that you all know your tasks, get to it.”</p><p>               With that motivational speech finished, the team began to rise to their feet and the two groups split up together to take to their tasks. Nate walked up beside Nina as she began picking up her coat and leather satchel, smiling brightly.</p><p>               “I’m glad we got paired off together,” Nate said earnestly. “The others… Well, as much as I care for them as family, they don’t share our passion for books.”</p><p>               Nina found herself smiling back without thinking, a rare true smile lifting the corners of her lips.</p><p>               “Me too,” she admitted with a laugh. “For whatever reason, being around you makes it easier to feel…” she trailed off, the word ‘human’ lingering on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it down and smiled again, “ordinary again. Like we’re just two friends reading books and drinking tea on a comfortable, rainy afternoon where we have nothing but time.”</p><p>               Nate’s smile grew as Nina spoke, his eyes glistening. “I didn’t think my exact feelings could be put into words so easily and yet here we are,” he chuckled softly, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I’m glad we’re friends. Feeling ordinary,” Nate paused, an almost wistful sigh escaping him, “it is something I have missed. Dearly.”</p><p>               Nina smiled back. “Well, let’s get going and feel totally ordinary in the library, or Adam might have our heads.”</p><p>               “Oh yes,” Nate let out a laugh, “best we avoid getting decapitated, that would be the end of us both, I’m afraid.”</p><p>               “Nate?” Nina said, turning her head to look at her friend.</p><p>               “Yes?”</p><p>               Another smile rose to her lips, pressure building behind her eyes. “I’m glad I’m here.”</p><p>               Nate returned the smile, continuing down the corridor. “Me too.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Cracks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nate and Nina research. Nate tries not to notice everything he's noticing.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               There were stacks of books surrounding Nate and Nina as they worked. A carefully layered and alphabetised load of books the pair had pulled from the shelves for any relevance the texts might have on Norse mythology or Agency records of such hybrid bird creatures Nina spoke of. The morning sun illuminated the library brightly, still yet to reach its peak in the pale blue sky—it was still early. Barely an hour had passed since the meeting, most of which Nate and Nina had spent in a comfortable silence as they read, only occasionally breaking to propose a theory or ask a question.</p><p>               When Nate next looked up from the work of Jacob Grimm at his reading partner, Nina was plaiting her still-damp hair into twin Dutch plaits. The book she was reading stood in front of her on a sturdy iron bracket and she barely glanced away from the text as she weaved her hair together with deft fingers, almost as if the motions were entirely instinctual.</p><p>               <em>It was nice</em>, he thought, <em>I could almost pretend I’m human</em>.</p><p>               It was an unwanted, wistful thing. Still, Nate couldn’t hold in the sigh that escaped his lips as his ears picked up each twist of Nina’s fingers, the steady beat of her heart, the sound of her turtleneck rubbing against her skin as she moved. He tried to ignore it, settle his senses and focus on the words in front of him, the smooth feeling of the page in his hand.</p><p>               A deep breath and the chaos of vampiric experience melted away to gentle smudges on the edge of his consciousness.</p><p>               “Huh.” The sound escaped Nina’s lips and made Nate look up with mild interest.</p><p>               “Did you find something?” he asked, letting his finger stay on the page and keep the line he had just finished.</p><p>               “Not really.” Nina glanced up at him sheepishly before her expression smoothed. “It’s just… curious. Jacob’s father died when he was young, and he followed in his father’s footsteps into law.” She paused thoughtfully. “I suppose it’s not that strange, but…”</p><p>               “There’s a thread,” Nate filled in for her helpfully, letting a smile warm his lips.</p><p>               Nina returned the smile. “Something like that.”</p><p>               “At least you had your mother,” Nate offered, his smile remaining.</p><p>               Something shifted in Nina’s expression, her eyes turned cold, her jaw trembling, but in a second it smoothed, and a smile returned to her lips. “Yes, I had my mother,” she said, but there was no warmth in her voice, just practised politeness.</p><p>               Nate had begun to notice this more and more—split seconds where Nina’s demeanour changed, the fractures in her mask glinting dangerously underneath the surface. But it would always be smoothed, fixed, hidden. Odd, that the two people he cared for deeply in his life had built these walls around themselves. Adam was different to Nina, his armour was one of ice and iron, whereas Nina was practised charm and soothing smiles, even if, for both of them, something else was always bubbling close to the surface.</p><p>               Sometimes he wished there was something he could do to help his friends, and yet it could not be him. They had to find faith in each other and see that one was not so different from the other.</p><p>               “Surely you have some happy memories with your mother,” Nate replied after a beat of consideration, trying to keep things positive. Rebecca was someone he deeply respected and cared about—he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the way Nina spoke of her.</p><p>               “Of course.” There was a seconds pause to Nina’s smile, which faltered ever so slightly. “We would drive to the coast once a year, walk the beaches, stay in a little seaside village. Those are some of the only times I can remember when she wasn’t somebody else, she wasn’t an agent, she wasn’t constantly on the phone or off in a meeting—she was just my mum.” Something caught in Nina’s throat, but it was so soft Nate almost missed it.</p><p>               “That sounds lovely,” Nate commented, his heart filling at the idea of Rebecca in a such a carefree environment.</p><p>               Nina nodded, a flash of iciness in her deep brown eyes. “I wish it could have always been like that,” she said, an edge of bitterness to her tone. “But one day, the trips just stopped.”</p><p>               Nate tried not to wince at the emotion hiding behind Nina’s eyes. “I’m sure it wasn’t on purpose.”</p><p>               But Nina didn’t look like she believed him.</p><p>               “They stopped after I got into some trouble, my best friend died because of my stupidity, and the trips just stopped.” Nate tried to ignore the crack in her voice when she said those words, like it wasn’t for him to witness. It was unbearably painful watching her holding it all in, but no matter how hard one tried, that pain would always leak through the cracks. He wondered if this was related to the Eve the raven had claimed to murder, but he knew it wasn’t for him to pry. Instead, he reached across the table and placed his hand on hers where her nervous fingers picked at a stain in the wood. “It was like she was just done with me.”</p><p>               Nate tried to keep his heart from breaking at the sheer desolation in those words.</p><p>               “Nina—” he tried to say, but he was interrupted by the blaring sound of Nina’s ringtone.</p><p>               “Sorry,” she muttered, clearing her throat and standing up. “I need to take this.”</p><p>               As Nina disappeared behind stacks of bookshelves to get some privacy for the call, Nate tried to focus back in on the book in front of him. But it proved more difficult than usual, his senses particularly sensitive to the outside stimuli. Still, he forced his gaze to follow the words on the page, line by line, but he wasn’t able to drown out the soft sounds of Nina’s voice echoing down the library.</p><p>               “Hello, angel,” it was a woman’s voice, soft and melodic but with an edge of something Nate wasn’t sure he liked. “Long time, huh?”</p><p>               “What do you want, Bobby?” There was Nina’s voice, and yet Nate almost didn’t recognise it. Stripped of all the pleasantries and warm charm—a snap response, an automatic response.</p><p>               <em>Ah</em>, Nate thought, <em>so this was the ex-girlfriend Nina had saved from the maa-alused</em>.</p><p>               “My, my,” Bobby’s voice slipped out of the phone like a siren’s call. “That’s no way to greet an old friend after a long time of not seeing each other.”</p><p>               There was a loaded silence from Nina.</p><p>               Suddenly, Nate had the sickening feeling he should not be listening to this conversation. But all of his pained efforts to return to the book in his hands went amiss—his ears pricked with every sound, every word. Sometimes, he hated this. Sometimes, he allowed himself to hate it. This was private. Nina deserved that small mercy, and yet try as he might he could not grant her that.</p><p>               “I’ve missed you, angel,” Bobby said again, her voice still retaining that melodic tone.</p><p>               “Get on with it, Bobby,” the words were spoken through gritted teeth, and Nate heard Nina’s exasperated exhale. “Tell me what you want.”</p><p>               “Little old me?” Bobby asked innocently. “Nothing. I just stopped by your office to pay you a visit. I’ve been worried—new murderer in town and all. I wanted to know how our detective was holding up.”</p><p>               Nina’s heart rate spiked. “I thought you were out of town.”</p><p>               “Oh?” Bobby sounded entirely pleased with herself. “It’s true I took a short holiday. Imagine my surprise to return and find you in the middle of this mess.” Nina’s heart was pounding in her chest, loud as bells against Nate’s ears. “Again.”</p><p>               “What do you want me to say, Bobby?” Nina’s tone was measured, though her heart refused to quiet. “I seem to be the unluckiest detective in the history of our town.”</p><p>               “Is that what you’d call it?” Bobby asked, and Nate could almost feel the smile in her voice. “I heard reports of a commotion at the station yesterday.”</p><p>               “Just an attempt at some in-office Zumba gone wrong,” Nina replied, smooth as ever. “I smashed a plant… and some cups.” There was a measured pause on Nina’s end, as if to sell the embarrassment. “And maybe a few plates. I hope my clumsiness and bad ideas won’t be the front page of tomorrow’s paper?” The question was asked hopefully.</p><p>               <em>Nina was a good liar</em>, Nate thought absently, it was difficult not to be troubled by the thought<em>, she would do well in the Agency at least</em>.</p><p>               “Right,” Bobby responded, but there was a definite twinge of disappointment in her voice that was unmissable. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you, angel. Someone should.”</p><p>               “Truly, Bobby,” came Nina’s sharp reply, “I can handle myself perfectly well without a babysitter but thank you for the concern.”</p><p>               “Anytime, angel,” Bobby said, a smirk in her words.</p><p>               The call clicked off. Nate could hear Nina’s rattled breaths across the library, her heart slowly but surely slowing down in her chest. As her footsteps sounded across the library floor, Nate tried to look as if he hadn’t been eavesdropping—because truly, he hadn’t meant to.</p><p>               When Nina finally returned to the table, Nate looked up with a mild expression. “Anything important?” he asked.</p><p>               But Nina fixed him with a look. “We both know that you heard every word, so let’s not pretend you don’t know,” she said, but there was no malice in her voice, just… exhaustion.</p><p>               Nate tried not to look as ashamed as he felt. “I’m truly sorry, Nina, it’s—”</p><p>               “Hard to control,” Nina filled in helpfully, a genuine smile lifting the corners of her lips ever so slightly. “I know. It doesn’t bother me, but I didn’t want to have to recount the whole call.”</p><p>               “Yes,” Nate said, smiling at her gratefully for accepting his condition so easily; most didn’t. “It did seem like a,” Nate searched for the right word, “straining conversation.”</p><p>               A stifled laugh left Nina’s lips. “That’s putting it mildly.”</p><p>               “Is she going to cause problems?” Nate asked, not unkindly. It was better to know now than later if something should occur from this reporter ex-girlfriend of hers.</p><p>               Nina shook her head. “No,” she said, a little too quickly. “I have it under control. Bobby is just nosey but she’s not dangerous—I won’t let it get to that.”</p><p>               Nate nodded. “We should inform Adam, just in case.”</p><p>               At his words, Nina shook her head vehemently. “No! Please, don’t.” Nate raised an eyebrow at her strong response. “I have it under control. Besides, Adam is not exactly subtle in his approach—”</p><p>               “That’s putting it mildly,” Nate laughed, cutting in.</p><p>               Nina joined in. “Exactly. Anyway, knowing him and his opinion of me, he’ll try to intervene and that will just make Bobby more suspicious. It’s best if I just handle it.”</p><p>               Nate’s brow furrowed as Nina spoke. “His opinion of you?” he inquired gently, already suspecting the answer will not be one close to the truth.</p><p>               “Come on, Nate, don’t make me say it,” Nina said, shooting him a pleading glance.</p><p>               Nate was genuinely confused.</p><p>               Nina sighed, letting her fingers twirl around the end of one plait, eyes set firmly on the book stand in front of her.</p><p>               “We both know Adam doesn’t respect me,” she said, almost forcefully, as if saying it aloud hurt her.</p><p>               “That’s not true,” Nate said softly, feeling the prickles of irritation at his old friend to make her feel like that. “It’s just… Adam. That’s how he is.”</p><p>               Nina didn’t look convinced. “At some point, that stops being an excuse,” she said, though it seemed like every word broke her further down, and she toyed with the watch on her wrist, refusing to meet Nate’s eyes.</p><p>               But, like always, the anxiety melted away, her fidgeting stopped, a smile replacing the girl utterly dripping with sadness. When Nina looked up to meet Nate’s gaze next, there was no evidence of it left behind. Just Nina and her warm smiles and those crinkles around her mouth from laughing so often.</p><p>               He wondered how many had been genuine.</p><p>               “Let’s not wallow,” she quipped, smile still etched into her features. “Back where I took the phone call, I saw a book on birds in Norse mythology, that could be useful.”</p><p>               And off she went, disappearing behind the stacks of books as if nothing had happened. Nate wondered how much they were missing of the real Nina; how much she was truly hiding away.</p><p>               For what felt like the thousandth time that morning, Nate tried to focus back on the page in front of him, trying not to think about his two broken friends and how catastrophically they loved each other.</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Next Steps</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nina and Nate find just what they've been looking for and it doesn't lead to good news.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm so sorry for the long absence guys! A lot has been happening in my life but I finally buckled down and wrote the next chapter so I hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>               It was hours later before Nina and Nate had their first breakthrough. The sun was already sitting comfortably in the blue-yellow sky, skeletal clouds flitting past the windows and obscuring its rays from the windows of the library. It was one of the only rooms built above the underground bunker beneath the warehouse façade and Nina was grateful for it. Somehow, reading wasn’t the same without the comfort of the world outside the window; although the birds no longer made her smile. Nina eyed each one suspiciously, anytime a little black thing would be unlucky enough to decide to rest on the library’s exterior windowsill.</p><p>               Nate looked up every time she did to ensure there wasn’t a murder raven waiting to kill her. There was only ever mild interest etched into his soft features, but Nina knew that he could hear her thudding heart each time she heard the flutter of wings. She tried to keep it cool, but it was difficult to hide anything from a vampire. Those supernatural senses got you every time.</p><p>               Still, Nina did manage to find something useful in the end.</p><p>               “Nate?” she called out gently when she finally made the revelation. Her voice was hoarse from not using it for hours. When Nate looked up from his book, she continued. “Here, the text describes men who were cursed into intelligent ravens. It calls them the valravne. It has its roots in Norse mythology it seems.”</p><p>               Immediate interest lit up in Nate’s deep brown eyes. “That’s fantastic, Nina. We should take this to cross-examine that name through the Agency’s records.”</p><p>               Nate stood to leave, but as Nina continued to scan down the rest of the page, she froze, remaining glued in her chair. Her eyes refused to leave the words in front of her as she re-read them over and over again. The black lettering stood out against the white as her vision doubled—in her mind, the black ink bled into the dark red that seeped through Angelica’s white shirt.</p><p>               <em>No, </em>she thought as cold dread dragged its limp fingers down her spine, <em>no, no, no, it can’t be.</em></p><p>               “There’s more.” When Nina spoke, it was barely a whisper, fear creeping into her voice. It almost shattered the perfect mask she wore. When her eyes wandered from the page to Nate’s face, his concern shone down at her. “The valravne are peaceless souls in search of freedom—creatures cursed to fly only at night and seek out the blood of children to turn them back into men.” Nina swallowed hard, her voice shaking. “This book details the tale of a maiden who promised her only son to a valravn in exchange for bringing her love back from the dead.”</p><p>               “I can see where this is going,” Nate replied softly. “You don’t have to—”</p><p>               But Nina cut him off with a shaky breath. “Once the deed is complete, the valravn returns to the maiden reminding her of the oath she made. The valravn takes the boy with him and in front of the maiden tears into his chest. She screams and cries, but he drinks the blood directly from the boy’s heart.” Brick by brick, Nina tried to build her walls back up. But all she could think about was sweet fourteen-year-old Angelica’s face and the gaping hole in her chest. Still, she needed to finish the story out loud—her guilt demanded it. “After it is done, he is transformed into a handsome knight. Fed by the blood of innocents, his old life is returned to him and all the magic disappears. So too, does the maiden’s love wither in her embrace and turn to ash, returning to the land of the dead. In the end, the maiden is left with nothing.”</p><p>               “That means…” Nate trailed off, refusing to finish the thought, his lips set in a grim line.</p><p>               But Nina had the same idea, her heart clenching in her chest. “That the original murder was committed by one of these creatures, who then turned back to human, disappearing forever and that we are dealing with a pack of these valravne? Very likely, yes.”</p><p>               “I wouldn’t have worded it that way exactly,” Nate said, trying for a smile.</p><p>               Nina tried not to look completely devasted. “A murder of ravens has just taken on a new meaning, huh?”</p><p>               “I believe that is the name for a group of crows,” Nate corrected gently.</p><p>               Nina managed to roll her eyes. “Then what’s a group of ravens called, smart guy?”</p><p>               “An unkindness or a conspiracy.”</p><p>               “That’s… oddly fitting,” Nina said thoughtfully. “We’re in the middle of an unkind raven conspiracy after all.”</p><p>               Nate shot her a look, shaking his head but Nina couldn’t help but notice the small smile that rested on his lips. “We should go see Adam and hope he has some good news,” Nate suggested, shoving his hands firmly in the pockets of his jeans.</p><p>               Even with the disturbing information they just learned, Nina’s heart skipped a beat in her chest at the mention of Adam’s name and almost immediately plummeted to the bottom of her feet when she remembered the tense interactions between them this morning. Rejection stung her like salt in a wound.</p><p>               <em>“That doesn’t seem like something that should concern me, detective.” </em>Adam’s voice echoed in her head like a headache. Nina remembered his cold eyes.</p><p>               But she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind and tried for a reassuring smile at Nate. “Good idea. We need to cross-reference this with the Agency database anyway.”</p><p>               Nate nodded, laying a quick, comforting hand onto her shoulder before turning to leave. With a shuddering breath, Nina followed behind, the Norse tome clenched tightly to her chest as if it might protect her from the heartbreak.</p><p>               It was a surprisingly short walk to the Agency labs, Nate chattering the whole time about something or other. It was difficult to hear with her heart pounding as hard as it did, and before she knew it, Nina was in front of an unassuming wooden, green door. The paint was chipped at the bottom and the golden handle was dull from frequent use.</p><p>               Nate swung open the door unceremoniously and entered, Nina not far behind him. Inside, the lab was far different from the one Rebecca had shown Nina when she had first arrived. This mostly looked like her university library, with stacks of files and books, except this time it was high-tech, newly updated computers lining the walls, the screens shiny and dust free. In fact, the whole room was extremely tidy and neat, not a mouse or pen out of place. Brightly lit, with fake windows pinned up to the sides to create an illusion of the outside world.</p><p><em>               That would have been Nate’s influence</em>, Nina thought with a warm smile.</p><p>               Though her smile faded as her eyes finally found the sole person in the room. Her heart sped up against her will at the sight of Adam’s taut back hunched over a monitor. Adam’s blonde hair appeared almost white in the artificial light, his skin even more pale than usual—he almost looked like a ghost, pale and desaturated. And yet, despite the ghastly environment, Nina couldn’t help the magnetic pull which drew her closer towards him.</p><p>               Adam turned at the sound of her approach and nodded as a sign of greeting. There was a stormy look in his green eyes as his gaze fell on Nina, even as they appeared grey in the light. “Detective, Nate.”</p><p>               Nina swallowed under the weight of his gaze; her mouth dry.</p><p>               Nate answered for her in the silence that followed. “We found something. It might be the key to the case.”</p><p>               It took a second while Nina silently cursed herself at her inability to control her emotions around this infuriating vampire, but after turning her head away, she finally passed the book in her arms to Adam so he could see for himself. It left her feeling vulnerable, her shield gone.</p><p>               As Adam took the book, his fingers brushed against Nina’s and her breath hitched. But Adam seemed not to react, and Nina briefly fluttered her eyelids shut, letting out the breath she had held in.</p><p>               “What page is it?” Adam asked.</p><p>               It was a simple question, and yet it made Nina pause. <em>This was bad</em>, she thought, <em>why am I acting like this? </em></p><p>               She needed to answer, talk about the case before she completely lost her mind. “Uh, 489,” she said, swallowing. It was the call with Bobby, that’s what has rocked her grip on reality. That woman has always put her on edge. Nothing unusual. “It’s… bad. If mine and Nate’s theory is correct, we might be dealing with multiple of these creatures. A pack or something far worse.”</p><p>               Adam nodded thoughtfully, his eyes briefly passing over Nina’s face, but she swore she could see them soften momentarily.</p><p><em>               Stay focused, </em>she reprimanded herself,<em> it was probably the light.</em></p><p>               “This is troubling,” Adam stated, closing the book and placing it on the table beside him. “But nothing we can’t handle. I can scan the Agency records for these valravne, and in the meantime, Nate, inform Agent Maddox of the new situation.”</p><p>               Nate nodded in affirmation. “I will let you know what Agent Maddox directs.”</p><p>               And off he went, gone in a blink before Nina could beg to let her come with him.</p><p>               The detective turned back from the door to face Adam. His lips were set in a grim line, his jaw clenched. Nina tried not to cringe as the tension in the room immediately tightened, the temperature racking up by 10 degrees. In order to have something to do with her hands, Nina started walking towards the computer Adam had been working on when they walked in, swiping her sweaty palms on her jeans.</p><p>               “Did you find anything useful in the database?” Nina asked, hating the silence.</p><p>               If Adam was capable of startling, he would have by the look he shot her way. “Nothing specific, there are countless different species in the Echo World, some we have no names for, others we have only the word of Agents to go on.” Adam paused, as if to allow the information to sink in and Nina was grateful for that. The more she learned of this other world, the more terrified and terrifically curious she grew. “Now that we have a name, it will be easier to search through the hundreds of files on our system. We will find these valravne and we will stop them.”</p><p>               Nina nodded, feeling surprisingly triumphant over Adam’s use of the word ‘we’. Maybe he was finally warming up to her after all.</p><p>               “Do you think I’ll ever get used to this world?” In honesty, she hadn’t meant to ask the question out loud and didn’t realise until Adam was staring at her with slightly parted lips that she had even spoke at all. Something about this man made her feel unbearably tense and comfortable at the same time.</p><p>               “Yes.” Adam’s answer was immediate, resolute. “You will have to.”</p><p>               When Nina didn’t look comforted by the response, he wavered briefly and continued, clenching his fist by his side. “It has only been a few months, detective. Give it some more time, soon this world will be as familiar to you as your own.”</p><p>               “Thanks.” Nina tried for a smile.</p><p>               Adam nodded.</p><p>               “Does it… Does it get easier?” Nina asked abruptly.</p><p>               Adam looked at her. “Does what get easier?”</p><p>               “The victims… the violence,” Nina answered, her voice sounding small and quiet. “I thought that because of my past I was cut out for this type of work but—” Nina cut herself off with a sigh, running her fingers over the ridges in her plaits. “Ah, nevermind, actually. I wouldn’t want to bore you.”</p><p>               “You could never bore me, detective.” Adam’s reply was almost instantaneous. His intense green eyes found hers across the crackling fluorescent lights and Nina tried her damndest to steady her heart. “You’re the most interesting person I have ever met.”</p><p>               “And you might be the most confusing,” Nina replied quietly, almost in a whisper. The whirlwind of emotion from Adam’s words had swept around her as always—intense and overwhelming.</p><p>               It seemed Adam only registered her comment at the last second, just as Nate and Rebecca were marching into the room, followed by Morgan and Farah chattering behind them. The brief moment of clarity that had washed over the detective dissipated as the chatter entered her orbit and she was brought back to the lab and to the brutal reality Adam usually made her forget.</p><p>               Farah shot her a bright smile and jumped onto the other seat at the same desk. “How you doing, Nin? Hope these two haven’t been drilling you too hard.”</p><p>               At her words, Morgan darkly chuckled. “Only one of them wants to drill—”</p><p>               “Morgan, don’t you dare continue that sentence,” Nate’s voice cut in sharply, sending a reprimanding look towards the smirking woman.</p><p>               Nina tried to stifle a laugh at the two contrasting team members.</p><p>               “You can’t tell her off her if its true,” Farah responded cheekily, sending a smirk Nate’s way.</p><p>               “Everyone knows Adam wants to—”</p><p>               “Morgan, enough!”</p><p>               Nina was glad for Nate’s interruption this time, her face had turned red and hot and she refused to look at the team leader who made her heart race.</p><p>               “Unit Bravo,” Rebecca’s voice pulled Nina back into a less mortified reality and she was grateful for it. The team handler—her mother—looked a little worse for wear than she had that morning, her normally unblemished face appearing as if she had aged a decade in a few short hours. “It might be unusual we aren’t meeting in our typical spot today, but the circumstances called for it.”</p><p>               As Rebecca’s words lulled everyone back into mission mode, Nina dared to sneak a glance at Adam. But just as quickly she had turned another shade of red when, to her pleasant surprise, she found him already looking at her. Every time their eyes met, it felt magnetic, like she was a planet orbiting around his sun. But the fantasy shattered when Farah nudged her in the ribs with her elbow, shooting her an unbearably shit-eating grin.</p><p>               Nina tried to train her focus back on the meeting, pointedly ignoring the vampire at her side.</p><p>               And no one interrupted as Rebecca continued. “Nate and Nina had found some troubling information on our potential supernatural killer. Something I deeply hoped to avoid, but alas it seems I can no longer ignore the signs set before us.” Rebecca took a deep breath, her manicured nails clenched around the manila folder in her hands. “The supernatural we are after is called a valravn. These creatures are men cursed into magical beings restricted by a raven form. There is little known about them in human folklore, and even less on the official Agency database. They are uncommon and not usually seen outside the Echo World.”</p><p>               “I’ve heard of them,” Farah piped up, her voice oddly quiet. “Even in the Echo World, they’re just a fairy tale. Stories used to get unlucky kids like me to eat their veg.” As if to reinstate her ridiculous point, Farah bared her fangs in a grin and winked at Nina across the room.</p><p>               It did little to improve her mood.</p><p>               “Yes, precisely, they are elusive creatures. They usually move alone, motivated by vengeance and a desire to return to their original forms. I…” Rebecca trailed off, pursing her lips. Nina could have sworn her mother’s hands shook. “I have had some experience with one such supernatural. However, he died in pursuit and I hoped this case would be different. It is such a rare species that it was our last port of call. I have gathered my own statements and observations, any classified information redacted. You will need to use this, as well as folklore and your own experience in order to bring in this particular supernatural.”</p><p>               Nina hoped she didn’t look as sick as she felt. Her heart instantly dropped to her stomach. “And do we know for certain they’re looking for me?”</p><p>               “We don’t,” Rebecca replied, her tone growing softer as she turned her gaze at her only daughter. “But we must work with the assumption that they are. It is the safest course of action.”</p><p>               “Great,” Nina muttered, glancing down and wrapping her arms around herself.</p><p>               When she looked back up, she noticed that Adam had suddenly grown a lot closer to her. His presence instilled a certain comfort, and she unclenched her jaw, feeling some of the pressure fall away.</p><p>               Rebecca gave her what she assumed was meant to be a comforting look, but which only made Nina grimace. The detective tried not to notice her mother’s hurt expression as she looked back out onto the unit.</p><p>               Rebecca cleared her throat. “If it is as Nate and Nina fear, we may be looking at a group. This is a very slim possibility as valravne are not known to be turned together or as groups. Still, you should proceed with the utmost caution.”</p><p>               “Understood, ma’am.” Adam’s voice rang clear and commanding around the quiet and still lab. “We will get it done.”</p><p>               “Aye, aye, cap’n,” Farah responded, as sarcastic as always. She saluted Rebecca. “With Unit Bravo on the case, what could go wrong?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Fun and Games</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tina convinces the detective to have some fun and let loose. The consequences are bloody.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>okay so sorry this took so long to get out there! i have been working on this chapter for weeks in between my job and work for my master's degree so it's been tough (which is why it might not be perfectly proof-read sorry about that too!) but i really hope you guys haven't abandoned this story because i certainly haven't! life just gets in the way sometimes. i hope you enjoy, its extra long this time &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>               “What are you doing out here?”</p><p>               Nina startled at the voice coming from inside the station, her hand immediately flying to the Agency taser gun she had been given as part of her protection against the valravne. To say that she had grown to be more paranoid now that she knew what they were looking for would be an understatement.</p><p>               Still, through the heart palpitations, Nina realised she hadn’t needed to worry. In the doorway of the station stood her best friend, Tina, brown hair falling out of her bun and curling around her pink, round cheeks, lips set into a scheming smile.</p><p>               “I like the rain,” Nina answered, trying to play it cool and not as if she had just almost pulled a taser on her closest friend.</p><p>               But even so, it was the truth, Nina enjoyed listening to the pitter patter of raindrops hitting the roof and concrete, the wind whistling past her hair, the quiet, empty streets, even the cool droplets of water that would occasionally land on her exposed skin underneath the awning. It was calming, cleansing.</p><p>               And something Nina desperately needed after the last couple of weeks she’s had.</p><p>               Unit Bravo still hadn’t found anything on the valravne trail—nothing useful anyway. Once, a few days ago, the team found an abandoned hut deep inside the forest outside Wayhaven that had clearly been used before for criminal purposes. Inside the hut, Nina and Farah found empty crates that reeked of sulphur along with detailed maps of the city, but whether it had been left behind by the valravne or the Trappers or some other supernatural entity intent on ruining Nina’s life, nobody could tell.</p><p>               The trail went cold after that and they hadn’t heard anything since.</p><p>               It was beginning to make Nina’s skin crawl. Waiting around was not something Nina was good at and the eerie silence from their murderer was almost as bad as finding more bodies. It just meant time for speculation.</p><p>               Still, at least the work kept her busy, unable to think too much on either the murderous valravne or the aching in her heart whenever she thought of Adam. There was an endless stream of patrols and nights spent pouring over Agency records and books in the library of the Warehouse. The station was constantly bustling with false alarms and worried citizens asking for officers to patrol their neighbourhoods, offering town gossip as evidence.</p><p>               But worst of all was the Mayor, endlessly calling and demanding answers and arrests to be made. Credit where credit is due, ever since Nina complained about the issue to her mother, she hasn’t heard from the man again. Hopefully it would stay that way.</p><p>               Tina’s voice brought Nina back to attention, her mind slowing down as reality reasserted itself. Rain, cool air, Tina’s warm laugh beside her.</p><p>               Nina tried for a smile.</p><p>               “I sometimes forget that you’re really an old lady at heart,” Tina responded with a shake of her head and a hand over her heart, as if mourning Nina’s lost youth.</p><p>               Nina rolled her eyes. “Is there a reason you came out here to bother me on my break or do you just enjoy torturing me?”</p><p>               Tina gasped in shock. “How dare you accuse me of such things? I came to check on my dear friend and I’m instantly accused.” Tina clucked her tongue. “These vampires are not teaching you good manners.”</p><p>               Nina suppressed a chuckle and crossed her arms across her sternum, turning to face the other woman. “What do you want then?”</p><p>               “Well, I have been back for four entire days now and we still haven’t so much as celebrated,” Tina explained, throwing Nina a look. “It’s past due and I’m collecting.”</p><p>               Nina sighed. “I’d love to but—”</p><p>               “No buts!” Tina cut in, wagging her finger in Nina’s face. “It’s about time you had a break. You’ve been working nonstop since this Agency rolled into town.”</p><p>               “Tina, we have a murderer on the loose,” Nina reasoned, remorse bleeding into her tone.</p><p>               “A murderer who hasn’t struck again in almost three weeks,” Tina pointed out. “We have no leads, no evidence, no witnesses. Nothing. There is nothing we can do right now, and you need to get rid of that luggage you’ve been carrying under your eyes.”</p><p>               At her friend’s words, Nina lifted a hand to her face self-consciously. That one stung. Sure, she was getting less sleep than usual the last few months but it’s not like her new life was leaving much room for anything else but work. “That’s just rude.”</p><p>               “It’s true,” Tina said, sticking out her tongue as Nina pouted. “Besides, I’m sure your four hot vampire friends can handle the town’s safety for one night.”</p><p>               “But—”</p><p>               “Remember the last time you decided to stay at the station and work instead of coming out with me?” Tina asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms across her chest.</p><p>               The memories of that night flooded back to her: Bobby bugging her office, Adam’s cuts healing in front of her eyes, pain exploding in her head as her office was destroyed by thralls. Nina rubbed her temples as an ache began developing at the base of her skull.</p><p>               When she looked back at her best friend, Tina looked triumphant and it just made Nina’s headache worse.</p><p>               “One drink,” Nina said, pointing a finger at Tina. “One. After that I’m going back to work.”</p><p>               An infectious grin overtook Tina’s face and she threw her arms around Nina. “You won’t regret it!”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>               It truly had been a mistake to let Tina choose the bar. No sooner than they had started walking, than Nina found herself in the downtown local karaoke place, on crazy Tuesday cocktail night, with an over-excited Tina staring at her over the brim of her umbrellaed Mai-Tai.</p><p>               Multi-coloured lights flashed around them, the old-fashioned disco ball in the centre of the room reflecting the lights back towards them, reds and purples and greens danced across Tina’s face as she grinned at Nina brightly but Nina only grimaced. The bass of the music and the squeaking sounds of karaoke-singers blended into a noise that Nina knew wouldn’t become pleasant until after several drinks, which she supposed had been Tina’s impish goal in the first place.</p><p>               “So…” Tina trailed off, her infectious grin not leaving her sparkly face for a second.</p><p>               Nina sighed. “So?”</p><p>               “Oh, come off it, Nina!” Her best friend threw her a dirty look and waved a hand in the direction of the flashing lights and blaring music. “This is fun. This is what fun looks like! Clearly, you’ve forgotten that while the Agency’s been working you to the bone but that’s not how life should be. You need to relax every now and then or you’ll collapse.”</p><p>               Nina had to admit, it <em>was </em>fun. At least, she would have thought so a few months ago. Any moment to be able to sit back and relax with her best friend and she would have jumped on it without question. It was becoming harder and harder to stop her work from invading every other part of her life, like a dark shadow swallowing her whole.</p><p>               She supposed that’s how her mother had felt, raising her in the darkness all those years.</p><p><em>               Stop it</em>, she reprimanded herself, <em>stop making excuses for her</em>.</p><p>               God knows she’d done enough of that as a child. She wouldn’t stoop so low as to do it in adulthood.</p><p>               “Fine,” Nina admitted after chewing her bottom lip for a moment. “You’re right. This job… It’s not what I thought it would be. Or it’s exactly what I was afraid it would be. It’s hard to remember to be human after fighting monsters every day.” Nina let out the breath she didn’t realise she was holding in—perhaps she had been holding it in all this time—and her shoulders drooped, relaxing. “Now let’s make a night of it.”</p><p>               Tina’s grin was back in a flash. “That’s it! That’s my Nina!”</p><p>               A smile—a small, genuine, pitiful thing—began growing on her lips as Nina allowed the music and the lights to seep into her consciousness and relax. Finally, she felt the rhythm sway her bones and took a sip of her vodka and cranberry drink. No longer thinking… just letting go.</p><p>               Around her, she finally stared without judgement. Instead of the sweaty, careless people she had seen earlier, now she saw freedom—women and men moving their bodies to the beat, warmth and chaos mixed into a beautiful sight before her. She saw smiles, heard the laughter carry on the sounds of the pure joy and lack of shame in the karaoke singers songs. The floor was sticky from spilled drinks, the seats nominally uncomfortable, and every so often a tipsy girl would bump into their table—but Nina found she couldn’t care less. She didn’t watch out for raven wings, or black eyes or fangs or claws.</p><p>               For once in the last few months, she allowed herself to be normal.</p><p>               Nina threw back the rest of her drink and grabbed Tina’s warm hand. “Let’s get our asses on that dancefloor before I think better of it!”</p><p>               Tina didn’t have to be told twice. Hand in hand, the two women let themselves be taken by the crowd of swaying bodies and let go.</p><p>               The drinks were coming down easy after that. Hours passed and colourful, fruity drinks were swapped out for karaoke microphones, and tense shoulders changed into carefree laughter and crooked smiles. Nina’s shamelessness grew with each passing hour and each passing drink. She refused to be the serious town detective—tonight, she was just Nina.</p><p>               The music boomed in Nina’s eardrums, her heartbeat in sync with the bass. It was a moment in which she could forget.</p><p>               That is until Tina’s hand found itself in Nina’s once again and the other woman was dragging her up onto the low stage at the front of the bar where the karaoke machine sat.</p><p>               “Oh, no, no, no,” Nina protested, trying to slip out of Tina’s firm grasp. But the officer wasn’t letting go, and in seconds Nina was standing in front of a group of Wayhaven’s finest, staring at their detective with moon-eyed gazes.</p><p>               By the time Nina’s swimming head caught up with what was happening, Tina was already out of sight and mingling in the crowd, having taken up dancing with a pretty girl with pink hair that Nina had seen trailing around her all night. Nina glared at her, mouthing ‘I’ll kill you’ from her place on the stage as the crowd around her simmered and quieted, whispers of ‘detective’ falling from their lips.</p><p><em>               Oh no</em>, Nina thought to herself with a new wash of determination, shaking her head, <em>I refuse to be the detective tonight</em>.</p><p>               So, filled with alcohol and adrenaline, with a tightened grip on the microphone, Nina swiped through the tablet that played the songs, picked a cheesy little number from her youth and blared it through the speakers. Within a matter of seconds, the crowd forgot their earlier apprehensions of seeing the town’s detective on the stage and began moving again, cheering filling the air as several partygoers recognised the song. Across the room, Nina met eyes with Tina and the other woman winked, a cheeky grin playing on her lips.</p><p>               The song was over quicker than Nina had thought, and just as she had meant to step off the stage, the crowd began to cheer.</p><p>               “Encore, detective!” Someone from the crowd cheered.</p><p>               Another yelled, “C’mon, detective, one more song!”</p><p>               “One more song!”</p><p>               Nina slugged back another drink and jumped back to her place on the stage, a freeing sort of madness overcoming her. Sure, her life was in danger, and so was the life of everyone in the town, but right now all of that seemed… Far away and muted. A caress of a worry far at the back of her mind, drowning under a sea of giddy drunkenness.</p><p>               Songs and drinks passed throughout the night, and to be quite honest, Nina had lost her sense of time and place. It could have been merely minutes or long hours; she wasn’t quite sure. She had lost feeling in her face a while ago, that she knew for certain.</p><p>               Soon, she was back down on the dancefloor, leaning on the bar as Tina told her that she found a girl and they were going back to her apartment and she was sorry but she couldn’t take her back to her house and she didn’t want to leave her alone and everything was falling into place and she was sorry but she called him and he was coming and something else that blurred into the lyrics of the song.</p><p>               The words were a stream mixed with the loud music, washing over Nina with hardly any recognition. She knew she was happy for Tina—the girl was pretty—but she didn’t understand who was coming. <em>He? He who?</em></p><p>               Nina scanned the crowds before her, leaning her knees onto the bar stool to have a height vantage over the people, to see if she recognised anyone coming towards her. And she almost missed him, passed over him for a second—quickly, worryingly—and then back down. Light blonde hair, a coat far too fancy for this end of town, and that annoyed frown, one she would recognise anywhere.</p><p>               Nina’s heart jumped into her throat.</p><p>
  <em>               Adam.</em>
</p><p>               It was like all of the confidence afforded to her by the alcohol had just drained out of her, and nerves lit up along her spine. <em>No, no, no,</em> she thought desperately, turning to Tina with gritted teeth.</p><p>               “What did you do?” she demanded from her best friend; all previous giddiness gone from her. She had learned how to switch between fun and serious a while ago, and how to control herself on alcohol when she was a little troublemaker. It was nice to know she could still hold her own, even if it seemed foggy and far away.</p><p>               Tina grinned, seemingly not noticing that her friend was glaring daggers at her. “I just thought if I was going home with someone, it would be irre—” Tina hiccupped, “—irresponsible of me to leave you alone.”</p><p>               “You idiot! That’s my colleague, not a college crush,” Nina hissed. Her self-control was fraying as quickly as her temper. She was angry at Tina for calling Adam to come pick her up from a bar, but more than that she was angry at herself for being weak enough to be convinced to go there while her town was in danger. Guilt and self-hatred were a sobering combination. “I should never have come here,” she added, running a ragged hand through her tangled hair as she turned away from the cataclysm making its way across the bar.</p><p>               It seemed that some realisation was starting to dawn on Tina. She reached out to grab Nina’s arm. “Nina, wait I didn’t mean—”</p><p>               But before she could finish her sentence, a figure stood before the two of them. Somehow, tonight Adam looked taller than usual against the backdrop of party-goers, his unbelievably handsome features cast in changing neon colours and softened the harsh lines of his face, and despite the fear that clawed into her skin as the consequences of her actions caught up with her, Nina felt her heart flutter in her chest at the sight of him. The drunken part of her urged her to grab him and never let go. <em>What if he wanted this? Wanted her like she wanted him?</em></p><p>               She instantly silenced that part.</p><p>               Adam wrinkled his nose as his eyes took Nina in. “You’re drunk.”</p><p>               “It’s not what it looks like,” Nina explained.</p><p>               Adam inspected her for a second longer, something shifting in his expression—something Nina couldn’t pinpoint right now, not in her state—and turned away from her and Tina. “Let’s go. You should not walk home alone with a murderer on the loose.” He emphasised the last few words and Nina cringed, feeling the words like a whip against her skin.</p><p>               “Nina, wait I—” Tina tried again.</p><p>               But Nina cut her off before she could get another word in, whipping around to face her best friend. “Leave it. I need to go, and you should too. You have a morning shift.”</p><p>               “<em>Nina</em>.” Though Tina had only said her name it sounded like a plea in and of itself.</p><p>               But Nina was having none of it, not with the chaos of her thoughts swirling through her head. “Goodnight.”</p><p>               And with that, Nina collected her jacket from their small table by the bar and swept through the crowd after Adam. The cold night air assaulted her as she opened the doors outside, blowing her hair around her face. It was a cold spring night, the moon shining brightly with no clouds to obscure its light. But the wind whistled past with a particular violence, the rain from earlier had stopped, the only thing to remind her of it the shine of wetness across the deserted streets.</p><p>               Deserted apart from one other. A man across the street, a dark duster jacket trailed the air behind him as he turned and left but before he was completely out of sight, a shining smile stuck out from beneath a shadowed hood. Then he was gone.</p><p>               Nina shook her head, sure she had been imagining things, as more pressing matters emerged before her. Quickly, she slipped into her jacket as she turned towards Adam, unsure of what to expect.</p><p>               Surprisingly, the team leader looked oddly at peace. His eyelids fluttered closed, his breathing soft and slow, but the moment was brief. Before Nina knew it, Adam snapped his green eyes open and focused them with burning intensity on her. She must have looked a mess—drunk, with lipstick and mascara running with sweat, her hair plastered to the nape of her neck as if she had just finished hours of training. The scent of alcohol on her breath must have already hit his sensitive senses.</p><p>               “I know,” Nina started, before Adam could let loose whatever torrent of insults was about to leave his lips. “I shouldn’t have come here. It was irresponsible and dangerous and selfish.”</p><p>               Seeming startled, Adam opened and closed his mouth. Then, he simply said, “Good.”</p><p>               Nina sighed, hugging her arms around herself as the wind whipped around her. “Let’s just get out of here. I want to go home.”</p><p>               Adam nodded, looking unsure of what to say in the face of Nina’s desolate attitude. The two started off down the main street in the direction of Nina’s apartment, the twists and tangles in the road a welcome familiarity in the tense silence between the two.</p><p>               More than anything, Nina was painfully embarrassed. Tina had texted Adam as if he were a mere childhood crush rather than the leader of her team—a man who already seemed to be at the end of his patience with her. And more than that, she was afraid of what that said about her.</p><p>               “I’m sorry,” Nina started as they rounded a corner, looking anywhere but Adam, “for Tina texting you. She shouldn’t have done that. It was unprofessional.”</p><p>               “You didn’t—” Adam cut his own words off with a strangled sound. “I mean, officer Poname was the one who contacted me?”</p><p>               “Yeah.”</p><p>               “I see.” Adam was quiet. Part of Nina wondered if he was disappointed… Then the placid mask returned. “Considering your present condition, you required an escort to ensure you arrived at your apartment safely tonight, so it was wise she did.”</p><p>               Nina sighed. “Right.”</p><p>               The silence returned, a heavy cloak above them both, stifling the air in Nina’s lungs. The streets were quiet too, nary a sound around them but for that of their breaths billowing into little clouds in front of them and their footsteps on the wet concrete. It felt as if the seconds stretched into hours as they walked.</p><p>               “Do you know why she called you?” Nina asked innocently, unable to stop the words from leaving her lips, regretting them the instant she said them. What was she thinking? Why was she pushing this? It seemed like a good idea a second ago—something to fill the silence, to find out how Adam felt.</p><p>               This was the last time she was drinking.</p><p>               “To ensure your safety,” Adam answered matter-of-factly, never wavering.</p><p>               “Maybe.” Nina deflated with both disappointment and relief in equal measure.</p><p>               Adam glanced at her as they walked. “Is there another reason why she would have contacted me?”</p><p>               Nina stopped walking abruptly, meeting Adam’s eyes across the distance between them, which grew shorter as Adam noticed and traced back the few steps towards her. The green of his eyes beamed in the light of the moon, the shadows playing with his features as if it was a game to make him even more ridiculously attractive than he already was. The thoughts in Nina’s head swam as every lingering touch, every missed opportunity, every shiver, every loaded silence, every longing stare flashed by in her mind.</p><p>               Nina swallowed. “No.”</p><p>               Then because she was a coward, she started walking again as if nothing had happened.</p><p>               Because nothing <em>had</em> happened.</p><p>               And nothing would ever happen.</p><p>               Adam was beside her within seconds, and silence fell over them again like a thick layer of ice above Nina’s head and this time, Nina didn’t dare break it.</p><p>               She allowed herself to drown in the glacial water instead.</p><p>               It was another while before the two of them reached her apartment building. There were no lights on in any of the apartment windows—not that Nina was expecting any. It must have been around 3 in the morning. Slivers of light beamed down upon them from the moon, filtering through the deep layers of leafy-green branches above their heads, the street otherwise drenched in shadows.</p><p>               The realisation itself elicited a yawn out of her, as if her body had just remembered how drained and tired it really was—not just from the day, but every part of the last few months that had dragged its claws over her body, searching for any vulnerability to set into.</p><p>               But even so, Nina stopped Adam as he reached for the door handle to the building.</p><p>               “Thank you,” Nina said, her voice hoarse, her fingers tingling where she had touched Adam’s hand. She withdrew it quickly and stuffed them in her jacket pockets. “For coming to get me and not lecturing me about all of this.”</p><p>               “You’re welcome,” Adam replied, voice just as rough. He clenched and unclenched his hands. “In truth, it seemed as if you had beat yourself up over it enough. I did not want to lend my voice to those thoughts as well.”</p><p>               A strange flutter erupted in her chest at that. “Yeah, tell me about it. I feel like I’m quite proficient in beating myself up.”</p><p>               “You should not,” Adam said abruptly, hastily turning his head away from her when she looked up at him with surprise. He cleared his throat. “Beat yourself up, that is. You are a very competent agent.”</p><p>               Shock rocked Nina’s spine and she had to shake her head to make sure she was hearing things correctly. “You think that?”</p><p>               “Of course,” Adam replied without hesitation, glancing at her momentarily, as if in disbelief. “Was that in doubt?”</p><p>               “I thought—” Nina cut herself off with a strangled laugh, tightening her hands into fists in her pockets. “It seems ridiculous now, I suppose, but I thought… I thought you might hate me.”</p><p>               “Never.” Adam’s answer was immediate but quiet, almost a whisper. His green eyes bore into hers with sudden intensity, flames burning through the empty night air between them. “I could never hate you, Nina. I apologise if I gave you the wrong impression,” he added hastily, swallowing hard.</p><p>               Nina hoped to God Adam was not listening to her heartbeat then, because it began to race through her chest and out towards him as if attempting to reach his reliable and sturdy hands—as if only he could keep it safe. Even if she knew, somewhere deep in her soul, that those hands must be seeped in blood and pain and ruin, over 900 years of history written in the lines on the skin of his palms and she wanted nothing more than for them to cradle her in his arms—the same arms that could tear metal like tissue and break bones like glass—and wanted to feel the beat of his steady heart on hers. Her head swam with drink and a terrible, gnawing lovesickness she didn’t think she’d ever get rid of.</p><p>               “No,” Nina said quietly, her eyelids fluttering closed in momentary relief and disbelief, “it’s okay, I—” she sighed, “—I guess I just get into my own head sometimes.”</p><p>               “That might be a habit we both have indulged too often these past few months,” Adam said with the slightest tilt of his lips.</p><p>               “Both?” Nina asked with a chuckle. “I find it hard to believe the Commanding Agent Adam du Mortain has been staying up at night overthinking.”</p><p>               “It is more likely than you might believe,” he breathed, his fists clenched at his sides.</p><p>               But then he quickly reached for the door to the building and the moment was gone.</p><p>               Nina opened her mouth to speak when Adam abruptly stuck out an arm to stop her, his entire body standing taut as an arrow. The transition had been seamless.</p><p>              “Wait here,” he commanded, his shoulders tense, every muscle rigid. He looked out into the darkness of the corridor inside as if searching for lurking monsters.</p><p><em>               And he might well be doing just that</em>, Nina realised, her skin crawling with goosebumps.</p><p>               “What’s going on?” Nina whispered frantically; afraid they might be overheard by whatever it was that Adam was sensing. She looked around their surroundings wildly, but the shadows in the trees didn’t help her to feel at ease.</p><p>               “Something’s wrong…” Adam trailed off, sniffing the air like a hound. “I can smell blood. A lot of it. But with every person in this building, it is hard to focus on a single signature.”</p><p>               “Blood?” Nina tried to slow down her breathing, stretching out her fingers as if that would help her feel more relaxed. “Is it the valravne? Are they here?”</p><p>               Adam turned to her, expression softening as his eyes scanned over her. “Stay here. I will secure the area.”</p><p>               “What?” Nina demanded, pulling Adam back when he tried to slip in through the doors. “No way! I’m coming with. Besides, I’m safer with you than alone,” she added, knowing that was the key to convincing him.</p><p>               With a groan, Adam relented. “Fine. Stay behind me.”</p><p>               Nina nodded, unable to find her voice as the pair of them set off into the darkness of the building’s halls. The faint light from the moonlight hardly illuminated the inside of the building and when Nina’s attempts to turn on the light switch failed, she tried to steady her tremors. Just barely, she managed to adjust her eyes to the encompassing blackness, her hand finding Adam’s on instinct—<em>so she wouldn’t fall</em>, she told herself, but his grip on hers was a comfort she couldn’t deny.</p><p>               The only thing she could hear was her heartbeat and blood rushing in her ears as they climbed the stairs to her floor, fear and alcohol forming a nauseating combination in her stomach.</p><p>Adam’s hand stayed on hers the whole time.</p><p>               As they began to reach the top of her floor, a small column of light began to shine out into the landing, and Nina’s heart clenched in her chest. The light was coming from an apartment door that was left slightly ajar.</p><p>               <em>Her </em>apartment door.</p><p>               Swallowing, Nina followed Adam to the threshold.</p><p>               “Stay here, I can sense someone inside. You will be safe here,” he commanded, turning to her. Now that they were in this sliver of light, she could see the taut lines of worry in the sharp angles of his face.</p><p>               “No,” she whispered back angrily, “this is my <em>home</em>.”</p><p>               “Nina.” The use of her name made her pause—it was a plea, a desperate quiet thing. For the second time that night, someone was pleading with her.</p><p>               And this time she listened. “Fine. Just… stay safe,” she added.</p><p>               Adam paused fleetingly, before nodding and disappearing into her apartment.</p><p>               Outside, seconds dragged into what felt like hours. Nina could hear nothing from inside, and the silence was deafening; the darkness in the hallway an oppressive companion. Dread snaked around her limbs. <em>What was happening in there? Was Adam safe? What about Crumbs?</em> Surely, she would have heard sounds of struggle if there was someone there.</p><p>               <em>Fuck it.</em></p><p>               Nina took a deep breath and reached for the door's handle, trying to push away thoughts of what might be on the other side.</p><p>               Instant regret flooded her body the second the door opened.</p><p>               Dark red blood smeared the walls of her home, the stench of rot assaulting her nostrils. Nina gagged against the smell, shoving a hand against her mouth to protect her senses. Imprints of nails were scraped across her wallpaper, and as she moved deeper into her apartment, the horror worsened. The fluorescent lights that lit up her home allowed her a close look at every bloody detail.</p><p>               She turned the corner and set off into the living room, where she could hear Adam’s quiet voice as he spoke to someone, probably the Agency, probably to clean up whatever happened here. She tried to call out to him, warn him that it was only her coming to see him when she saw it, her voice dying in her throat.</p><p>               There, hanging on the back wall of her living room was a girl. Her hands were nailed to the wall as if she were a twisted decoration. Black hair hung in tangles around her limp head, her white dress shredded and stained with brown and red. There was a well of blood on her front, spilling out onto Nina’s couch, dark red seeping into cream fabric. Around her, the furniture was broken and bloodied. The stench of rot and sulphur hung in the air like a hangman’s noose, choking the air from Nina’s lungs.</p><p>               Signs of struggle screamed out at her in accusation.</p><p>               In front of her, on the perfectly preserved coffee table, was a pale white organ.</p><p>               A heart.</p><p>               Drained of blood.</p><p>               Nina’s brain tried to catch up to the reality before her. Dead<em>. </em>The girl was dead. Strung-up, ripped-up, dead. On her wall. <em>On her wall</em>. It was her <em>home</em>. He was here. He had been here. Dead. He killed a girl in her home and strung her up like a prize.</p><p>
  <em>               Dead. Dead. Dead.</em>
</p><p>               Nina tried not to retch at the sight and failed. After wiping her mouth clean, her eyes returned instinctively to the girl. She tried to tear her eyes away—<em>needed</em> to tear them away, but she found them glued to the girl’s body hanging on her wall.</p><p>               “Nina.” The was the vague sound of Adam’s voice at the edges of her consciousness calling to her, but it wasn’t there—not real, faded, muted. “Nina!”</p><p>               Nina dug her nails into her hair and sank to the floor, squeezing her eyes shut. But instead of finding relief from the horror before her, all she saw in the darkness was blood.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thank you so much for reading! if you enjoyed it (and even if you didn't) leave a comment telling me why/why not! it means the world and keeps me motivated to keep trying to be better and keep writing! i hope you enjoy this canon divergent story while recovering from book two and awaiting book three.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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